The Hero of Thieves
by Odieaida
Summary: It's been twenty years. Twenty years since king Ganondorf was murdered. Twenty years since the Gerudo were unfairly banished to the desert. Twenty years since anyone has seen the dreaded triforce of power. But the era of Gerudo revenge is just beginning, for they happen to know exactly where it's hiding. The real question is: who has the best kept secret in Hyrule? Slight AU OoT
1. Prologue

**A/N Hey all! Welcome to my first ever Legend of Zelda fan-fiction! Please feel free to tell me your thoughts on the prologue. I'm sort of taking a different direction in this fiction, so it's slightly AU to Ocarina of Time I suppose. This chapter is mostly just back story, and for that I apologize, but it will be necessary forplot development later on I swear. I might make a few of you mad with the 'sides' and beliefs of some of the characters, but I'm going to be including as many in-game characters as possible one way or another. I don't like making OC's very much, but with an entire clan of Gerudo and Sheikah I assume I'm going to have to sooner or later. ANYWAYS, I don't own Legend of Zelda, that belongs to Nintendo, and please enjoy the prologue to The Hero of Thieves!**

**EDIT: I decided the last portion wasn't necessary, so I cut it. Also, just know that the rest of the story is NOT be written in this format. The remaining chapters are much longer, and tell the story as it happens. This is just a brief moment of back history, not unlike some Zelda games themselves (:**

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The Triforce is, in its most simplistic definition, the essence of the Goddesses. It is the only thing that can bring a mere mortal the grand sensation of divinity. Its strength and wisdom is unsurpassed, and with its three parts combined, it is more powerful than even the Goddesses themselves.

However, the Triforce is not always in its all-powerful state of combination. The magical properties it holds are so ingenious, that it has the ability to separate itself if someone with an unbalanced heart tries to take it for their own. Whatever part of the force that the heart is most centered toward, will remain with that person, while the other two will attach themselves to more deserving hosts.

Still, the Triforce does not like to be separated for long. While it does what is necessary to protect itself, the Triforce will bound the three force holders together by a thread of fate, so that it may have the ability to be whole once more. So due to the Triforces overwhelming attraction to itself, when the Triforce is divided, the remaining two forces do not take long to reemerge.

There are few ways to remove the Triforce piece from it's owner. One is natural. Simply if the owner of the piece's heart no longer represents it, the force leaves and finds a more suitable host. The other is forceful. In order to obtain a Triforce piece from someone who still suits it, one must kill the host and the piece will be transferred to the one who did the killing. There are of course other ancient texts that talk about less gruesome ways to extract pieces, though none of them have been put into practice.

After the goddesses created the Triforce and the mortal land, the humans were left in charge of guarding it. This task of course proved too much, as many people with ill intentions constantly tried to steal the Triforce's immense power. Then one day, as suddenly as it was made, the Triforce simply vanished from the mortal world.

Due to its long period of absence, through the years this 'ultimate power' began to be referred to as mythos in the land of Hyrule. The divine force was thought of as nothing more than a simple children's story, a trivial way to inspire curiosity about the world and the goddesses, but was dismissed as nothing more.

That was, until the day someone finally grabbed hold of the legend.

Ganondorf, the born ruler of a large band of thieves from the desert called the Gerudo, proved the myth a reality when he broke into the Triforce's container, and tried to take it for himself. However, due to his unbalanced intentions, only one of the Triforce pieces actually remained with the King of Thieves. This piece was power, as it was the most prevalent feature in his darkened heart. The other two pieces, all but vanished once again.

Ganondorf took over Hyrule with little resistance. The king had been murdered by his hand, and the Prince of Hyrule disappeared just as suddenly as the remaining triforce pieces had. The Gerudo moved out of the desert and into the divided uproar that was Hyrule. The Sheikah, a race sworn to protect the royal family, were targeted and assassinated in massive numbers by both the Gerudo, and Ganondorf's other followers. Those who refused to pledge allegiance to him were penalized, and those who did were rewarded with land seized by those killed under the tyranny, money if they agreed to work for the Gerudo king, and power given to those who publicly preached and upheld his policies.

His reign lasted for five long, difficult years.

Yet one day, the prodigal prince returned to claim his rightful place on the throne of Hyrule. He along with a large band of Sheikah took down the Dark Ruler, with the Prince, Daphnes Nohansen, striking the final blow and ending Ganondorf's life.

His welcome was met with both eager acceptance, and violent rejection.

Not all of the Gerudo had necessarily followed the King of Thieves after they had seen what horrors he could easily unleash, though King Daphnes felt he had no choice but to banish the entirety of them back to the desert. It was the only way to both establish authority, and peace of mind in his kingdom. In addition to this, he also held trials for those who had publicly shown Ganondorf support. The King made many exemptions, as long as they promised to pledge their allegiance back to him and his throne. But if they refused, they were sent into exile with the rest of the Gerudo.

King Daphnes was widely referred to as 'The Hero of Time' by his subjects. In the age old legend, it was foretold that a man with a piece of the Triforce would vanquish the evil that threatened Hyrule, with a strike from a legendary blade. While no blade of significance was used, he appeared to fit the description. The fact that he had a piece of the Triforce did not hurt his following either.

Not soon after King Daphnes had taken the throne and married the now late-queen, the Triforce of Wisdom had been reborn into none other than his daughter: Princess Zelda.

Though unconfirmed and usually disregarded, rumors also began to surface around this time telling of _another_ bearer of the Triforce piece being born in Gerudo Valley. These rumors claimed that a Hylain woman, exiled for her support of King Ganondorf, had given birth to the third, and final, missing link.

Though, this was preposterous. Unless it was to be believed that the Triforce of power found its way back into the mortal land, through some means or another.

For years this holder of the third Triforce piece remained a mystery. For years the people of Hyrule had patiently waited for someone who could complete the legend. For years, the people had waited for their true Hero of Time.

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**A/N lemme know what you thought of it in a Review, and I hope to see you next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello all and welcome to the first official chapter of The Hero of Thieves! **

**So just a few updates before you read, it's been ten years since the prologue, and 12 years since Ganondorf died. Also, there will be another large time skip later on in the story, but not for a few chapters.**

**Feel free to tell me your thoughts in a review!**

**I don't own The Legend of Zelda**

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"But _Impa_," A little girl with bright blonde hair pouted, trying to put up as much resistance as possible while she was being dragged by the hand, "I don't wanna spend the day with Mr. Jeremy! He always wears those creepy masks and pretends to do scary voices…" the little girl shivered, her deep, dark blue eyes widening as she remembered wailing when 'Ms. Great Fairy' tried to sing her a lullaby.

The woman doing the leading sighed, but refused to look back at the young girls face. If that kid wanted something, she would usually just have to look sad to get it, the damn girl was so cute. "He means well," Impa defended, "he just doesn't know how to deal with children over the age of two," she clarified as they neared the gate to Death Mountain where Zelda's day sitter was waiting on duty.

"Why can't I just stay with you?" Zelda tried, knowing she was fighting a losing battle.

"I told you. _You_ might be here on vacation, but I'm here on business," Impa finally stopped pulling the little girl and turned around to face her at eye level, squatting to do so. She gave a slight smile to the adorable pouting girl, Zelda really was trying hard not to go. Lucky, Impa had years of training to perfect the art of putting her foot down.

"I know," Zelda said in a quiet voice, tugging on the shoulder of Impa's strange Sheikhian garb and swaying slightly. Zelda wasn't used to seeing her so decorated, when she was in the castle she usually just wore casual tight-suits with one or two Sheikah emblems, and a little bit of armor over that. Now however, since Impa was about to go to a council meeting with the rest of the higher-ranking Sheikah, she was wearing a ceremonial cape and a lavish jumpsuit decorated in silver Sheikhian eyes and markings. Her face paint was also more elaborate than usual, with blues and greys in addition to her regular white. Zelda starred in the eyes of her nursemaid with her wide, dark blue gaze, and jutted her lower lip out for extra effect.

"Nice try," Impa commented, raising an eyebrow as she removed Zelda's hand from her cape and held it in front of her. Zelda resisted the urge to stomp her foot and whine as a last resort. Instead she sighed, giving up the cute act and now looked very annoyed as she refused to meet the authoritative gaze before her. "I have to go to council with the rest of the Sheikah, but I'll be back by sunset, and Jeremy will have dropped you off at my house before that."

"Fine," Zelda puffed, kicking the ground a little with her feet.

"Don't give him a hard time either," Impa prompted, though Zelda continued to just glance around the town.

"Kay," She murmured.

"Zelda I mean it," At Impas tone, the little girl finally lulled her head over to look the adult in the eyes. "Just be good and lay low. No one is going to recognise you here, but its always good to be safe, right?"

"Right," Zelda sighed, still looking a little mad. Impa grinned and shook her head, pulling the little girl into a not-very

-well-reciprocated hug.

"I'm getting premature grey hairs because of you," Impa said as she separated their embrace. That made Zelda smile a small

reluctant smile.

"I think your hair looks good. It's more shinny that way," she mentioned.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Hey there Princess!" A new voice piped up from a little further ahead of the pair. Zelda groaned and Impa gave a slightly concerned smile.

"Jeremy," Impa greeted, standing up straight from her position and slightly towering over the Death Mountain guard. "Thank you for looking out for Zelda for me, you can drop her off at my house around seven. There's food for you there too, as thanks," Impa nodded to the man who seemed ignorantly excited to spend time with Hyrule's Princess.

"Thanks Ms. Impa! I'll have the princess home on time, no problem!" Zelda simple crossed her arms, but gave him a tight-lipped smile anyways. At least she didn't completely forget her manners.

"Thank you again Jeremy, but remember, she's just 'Zelda' here, not 'Princess'," Impa began, "this is supposed to be a break for her, so just keep her title on the down low alright?"

"Sure thing," The young guard saluted and put his hand on Zelda's shoulder in a friendly gesture, making her roll her eyes, though he didn't notice, "We'll have tons of fun, right Prin- ah, Kiddo?"

"Right," Zelda stated with no emotion.

Impa glared at the young girl until she noticed, then gave a frightfully fake smile as she began to walk away, waving pleasantly. Zelda shivered.

"Have fun you two!" Impa called when she turned around, fast walking away to her destination. The Sheikah meeting place was unknown to non-Sheikah, though it was generally understood it was near Kakariko. Still, that didn't mean Impa wasn't risking being late.

As soon as her nursemaid no longer became visible, blending in with the bustle of other people beginning their morning in the populated town, Jeremy turned to shoot a grin at the Princess. She pathetically attempted to return it.

"So what should we do first… Zelda?" Jeremy asked, needing to think about what to call the Princess before he addressed her. He was getting out of boring guard duty for a simple babysitting job, he couldn't have been happier.

"I dunno," Zelda muttered, not sharing in the guards excitement, "whatever you want, sir."

"I know who can give us an idea," Jeremy began, a glint in his eye.

"No no that's okay I think I thought of something actually-"

"Mr. Bird can!" Jeremy half-shouted excitedly, pulling out a mask from seemingly nowhere. Zelda groaned, but the Guard didn't seem to notice as he happily adjusted the mask to his face. "Hello there Zelda! *squawk* My name is Mr. Bird! *squawk*" To give the young man credit, he really got into the roll. He even flapped his arms like they were wings when he made the bird noises.

Zelda laughed nervously as she said, "Hello… Mr. Bird."

Jeremy squawked again and flapped his arms.

As he opened his mouth (beak) to say something else in his strange voice for his character, Zelda cut him off as a slightly devious plan crossed her mind.

"I have a game I really want to play!" She half-demanded as she uncrossed her arms, a little to excited.

"Oh you do? *Squawk* what's it called?" Jeremy asked, tilting his head as far as it would go to the left.

"Hide and seek," She tried to remain calm and collected. "Have you heard of it?"

"Of course! *Squawk* I love that game! You hide and I count? *squawk*" The guard asked as he began to half-waddle over to a rock where he could put his head down.

"N-no that's impolite of me!" Zelda held out her hand to stop him, "you should go first! A-after all I came up with the game. It's only right," she finished by crossing her arms behind her back and smiling nervously. She wasn't the best at scheming.

However, Jeremy didn't seem to notice, "well that's nice of you Princess- Uh I mean Zelda. *Squawk* So I'll go hide and you seek?"

"Yes," Zelda couldn't hide her relief as she started to jog over to the rock Jeremy was about to count on, "I'll count to one hundred and let you hide."

"Now hold on Zelda *squawk*," Jeremy's words made her fight back an exasperated scream, "Mr Bird thinks we need to establish a few *squawk* rules to make sure this is a safe game," Zelda couldn't help but wonder what was unsafe about hide and seek. "We can only hide in this section of the village *squawk* okay?"

"Yes that's fine," Zelda agreed with a nod as she crouched by the rock and folded her hands on it, "is there anything else?"

"No going into other peoples houses *squawk* Mr. Bird says that's rude," Jeremy clarified with a wag of his finger. Zelda had already gotten into ready position however, and had put her head in her arms against the small boulder.

"Okay!" She agreed with a muffled call, "whenever you're ready!"

"Alright not yet *squawk*," Jeremy responded. Zelda heard some shuffling, then a yell from further away called, "you can count now!"

Zelda only counted to about ten before she took a peek around. Jeremy was no where in sight, so she let her counting drawl out into nothing as she stood up and brushed dirt from her purple, casual dress. She took a suspicious look around, as if not make sure he wasn't standing right next to her, or Impa wouldn't magically materialize and begin to chastise her. She glanced to her right one more time. Then to her left.

Then she began a full-out sprint to the part of the village where Jeremy said not to go.

She wasn't wearing the best running shoes, they were little white mary janes that clicked when she walked, but that certainly didn't stop her. She was no stranger to sneaking out, though this was certainly one of her more juvenile attempts. Usually her escape plans just involved going out to her garden at night when she was supposed to be sleeping, or sneaking into castle town for about an hour before Impa found her and yelled at her. Now though, she had all day to do whatever she wanted! Until Jeremy caught on, that is.

Zelda turned to look over her shoulder at what she had just run from. She couldn't see the strange guard anywhere, and she had certainly made process. She had crossed the border of their hide and seek game when she made it past the cucco lady. Laughing maniacally, she began to turn her head back around to face where she was running.

However, it was too little too late. She faced forward just long enough to see her body smash _hard_ into an unsuspecting the victim in front of her. The collision sent her skittering backward onto her behind, and made her head ache from the direction shift. She squeaked out a 'ow' and rubbed her throbbing behind, eyes shut in pain.

"Holy Din!" An exasperated voice called from in front of her. Zelda opened her eyes wide, almost forgetting about the person she had crashed into, "what did I ever do to you?!" the adolescent voice complained.

Zelda stood up in a panic, running over to the wheat-blond boy she had also sent to the ground. "Oh Nayru I'm sorry! I didn't see you," she began, offering a hand up to the boy.

He half-glared at her with brilliant blue eyes. Zelda couldn't help but think they looked like the sky on its most cloudless day. His skin was sun-kissed as evidence from spending a lot of time outdoors, the opposite of her own. Though his face was in a scowl, he looked pretty cute, and he seemed to be about her height. He was wearing brown shorts and a simple, puffy white shirt, which was now covered in dirt, no thanks to Zelda. Also a simple pair of fingerless, leather gloves. He was rubbing his head in pain when she ran over to him.

"You didn't see me?" He echoed sassily, "you rammed me dead on in this practically empty road and you didn't _see me_?"

"Uh," Zelda retracted her hand in sight fear, "yes?"

"Geez," the boy pushed himself up, glancing down at his clothing as he attempted to shake off the dirt, but to no avail. He gave up and looked over at Zelda again, slightly threateningly, "You pushed me on the ground, ruined my clothes, and you haven't even told me your name?" He commented, raising a brow at her.

"Huh? Oh no I didn't mean to not tell you my..." he simply stared, Zelda sighed. "My name is Zelda."

The boy was silent for a moment, as if pondering her words to him. Then, his lips quirked into a smirk, which eventually evolved to a full on grin as he snickered to himself.

"What?" Zelda asked, wondering what was so funny about what she just said that changed his mood.

"Nothing," he said through his giggles, bending down to pick up something he dropped when he fell.

"No really, what?" She pressed, slightly self conscious as she crossed her arms at him.

"Your name," he grinned a big grin, which for some reason Zelda felt was fitting to his face, but it still didn't stop her exasperated question of:

"Oh. Wait, what's so funny about my name?!" She demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's stupid," His grin turned cocky as he spoke, he put his scattered belongings in a bag tied to his belt.

Zelda was utterly scandalized. "It is not stupid! You're stupid!" She countered, pointing an accusatory finger.

"It is too," the boy prompted, ignoring her pathetic come back, "It's like Zel, _duh_, like you're saying your name is Zel and then saying _duh_ like I should have already known that. Duh," he then snickered to himself some more, "you just _sound_ stupid saying it."

"It's not Zel-duh, it's Zelda!" She angrily defended. The boy laughed a little more.

"Nope no difference!"

"Why you…" she trailed, too mad to really say anything back. No one had ever said her name was stupid! Then again, her name was usually following the word 'Princess' so it was no wonder. Was it really that stupid?!

She didn't want to ponder the thought. She'd wasted too much time with this kid as it was. She was going to _enjoy_ her fleeting hours of freedom. Without another word, she began to stomp away from the boy, pushing his snickering form aside as she went by him.

"Hey wait!" He called after her, quelling his laughter, "you're not gonna leave just because I made fun of your name a little are you Zel?" She didn't stop walking, but she did slow down a little. "You pushed me down on the ground remember? We're even!" This time she froze.

He really wanted her to stay? Why was that?

"_If_ we call it Even Stevens," She began, spinning on her heel to face him, "you have to promise not to be mean anymore."

"Sure," he agreed, smiling at her as he added, "do you have anywhere to be? Cause I was just about to play a game that's more of a two person job," She didn't know why, but the glint in his eyes made her feel a little uncomfortable. However, she didn't really have any friends her age. At all. And he seemed to be right around ten years old, just like her. She'd never played with someone like that.

"What kind of game?" She inquired, walking up to him with her brow quirked. She tried to hide her excitement at him asking her to join in.

"The kind where you get cake after," he answered vaguely.

"I like cake," Zelda verbalized, looking to the side slightly as she thought about it.

"Great! So you see those con-sum-uh-struction workers over there?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of a few burly men who were stacking bricks on a wood-framed outline. "They have the cake."

"Do we ask them for it?" Zelda's voice quivered a little. They really were scary looking.

"No silly!" He shook his head at her ignorance, "we take it."

"Take it?" Zelda echoed. Her eyes grew wide and she spun back around to face him. "But that's _stealing!_"

"Yeah," he met her gaze, "so?"

"I don't steal," She shook her head and crossed her arms, refusing to participate in the little boy's 'game.'

"'Don't' or 'haven't yet'?" the boy pushed the subject, trying to get her to look at him again.

"Don't! Do not!" Zelda repeated forcefully, uncrossing her arms as she bunched her hands into fits at her sides.

"Okay then don't think of it as stealing! Think of it as . . . regifting!" The boy's eyes lit up as if he thought of something genius.

"It's still stealing, no matter what you call it," Zelda defended. She couldn't believe she got her hopes up so high over this. Was this really how people her age played? Or was it just that this boy was weird?

"Well what if I told you that those men are bad people," he mentioned earnestly. Zelda's gaze softened a little as he spoke.

"Bad people?" She repeated, "what do you mean?"

"See that big one over there," the blond boy turned her so she was looking toward the construction workers again, and then pointed a little to the left in Zelda's line of vision. She noticed a particularly large man who was heaving a whole bag of bricks over to where a few others were slapping them on with cement.

"Yeah I see him," she stared at the man as he went about his business.

"He eats babies," the boy concluded.

"He does not!" Zelda shouted at him.

"Does so!" he defended, his eyes wide while he nodded vigorously. "That's all he eats actually. Babies," he stopped for a moment, but then added "and cake."

"That man does _not_ eat _babies_!" Zelda refused to believe his weird, messed up lie.

"Yes he does! And that skinny one putting the bricks in place," Zelda didn't want to, but she looked to see a tall, lanky man who seemed to be struggling to lift even one brick at a time. "Every time he sees a puppy. . ." the boy paused for dramatic effect, "he kicks it!"

"Stop it," Zelda scolded, looking away.

"And kittens!"

"I'm not going to steal!"

"C'mon it's just for fun! Not even a whole cake just a half of one! They won't even miss it," the boy promised, giving her the same puppy dog look she used so often when she really wanted someone to do something for her.

"No," she stated simply.

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"NO!" Zelda half-shouted, "You're not going to get me to _steal_ anything! I don't care what it is, how much of it, or who it's from, I _don't steal_."

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"I can't believe I'm doing this," Zelda sulked, standing next to the strange boy who she desperately regretted crashing into.

"It's just a little cake," the boy consoled, from his crouched position, peering into a small hole in the newly-built house that the workers were currently using as a lounge area while they built the house's sister next to it. Apparently, the boy had been planning this mission for two days now, he just wanted to get all of the mechanics right. Also, there are a lot of figures to stealing. Apparently.

First he had to find the times of day when the workers were on break. He scoped that out for three days just to make sure it wasn't a coincidence. He had found the small hole which would only be able to fit a child such as himself and Zelda, a flaw in the building that they workers just tried to cover up by putting boxes in front of, a few days ago. Immediately he started to plan to steal _something_, though he didn't know what, until he realised that the construction workers got _cake_ every single day! He'd only had cake one time before, and he really wanted to try it again.

First, he had to go inside and see what he could work with, but not take anything. He slowly moved the boxes inside the house that were put there to cover the hole, to form a path for him to fit in against the wall. Then, he moved the box outside to cover the hole again, just to make sure that the workers didn't notice it and try to fix it before he pulled off his big heist. When he showed Zelda, all he had to do was move the box out of the way, check the time, and proceed with his plan.

He stood back up after assuring that the way was clear, and promoted Zelda to go in.

"After you Mi'lady," he gestured jokingly, while she just scowled.

"Why do I have to go first?" She challenged, crossing her arms. He rolled his eyes.

"It was a joke Zel, cool it," he went on all fours again, his eyes on the small entry way to the house.

"And another thing," Zelda continued, making him sigh in annoyance. "I still don't know your name. I'm about to _steal_ something for you and you never even told me what to call you," her voice wasn't angry anymore, just curious.

"First off, it's not _for_ me, it's _with_ me," he gave her a charming smile. "And my name is- wait a minute," he looked up at her excitedly, "we should use code names!"

Zelda liked that idea. "Hey yeah!" she agreed and nodded vigorously. That certainly made it seem more like a game.

"How about this," the boy proposed, readying himself to crawl through the small space as he said, "you'll be Zel, and I'll be 'Duh,' get it?" He snickered at himself, Zelda couldn't help but giggle too.

"That's stupid!" She shook her head at him, and he just gave her a knowing glance.

"Stupid?" He echoed, "what about that name is stupid?!" He made his voice go higher as he spoke in order to imitate a girl. He also waved his hand dramatically for added effect.

"Shut up," Zelda crossed her arms at him, which made him laugh as he began to make his way through the crawl space. However, something dawned on the girl which made her lung for the boy's boot in order to stop him from going any further.

"Wait a minute!" She whisper-yelled to him through the hole, "how come our 'code names' are just my _full name_ and not yours!?" she removed her hand in order to get a better look at him through the hole.

"Are you coming or what?" Was the boys only answer.

Huffing, Zelda flopped down on the ground, pulling herself through the small opening with her elbows mostly, and sliding along a little with her legs. As her clothing dragged along the dirt, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of excitement. Kids her age are always dirty, right? They were always getting into mischief and causing trouble. Taking little things like cakes that could be easily replaced and not missed, and just doing it for the laughs. Or at least, that's what they do according to . . . 'Duh.'

She finally poked her pigtailed blonde head through the other end. 'Duh' had wormed his way in much faster, like a snake, but she had more difficulty. It was probably the dress. The boy had had enough time to take out something that was in the bag around his belt, and was holding it loosely in his hand as his eager face greeted Zelda on the other side. They were, as the boy said they would be, behind two relatively large boxes. Large enough that when they were in sitting position, they were naturally shorter than them. The boxes contained multiple things for building, such as roofing and flooring, and there were some bags of cement on the other side of the room.

Directly in front of them, across the room and away from the shelter of the boxes, was a table. On the table, multiple plates and mugs were placed sporadically around. However, that wasn't what caught the eye of the two children. What was interesting to them, was a pretty, thick, delicious looking white cake that was already about two-thirds of the way completed. It rested on a large silver plate, and was rather close to the edge of the table.

Unfortunately for them though, a few male voices could very clearly be heard from elsewhere inside the building.

"Are you ready?" The boy asked Zelda in a whisper, reading the item he had in his hand.

This mystery item, Zelda noticed, actually appeared to be a well-crafted slingshot. It was wooden and smooth, and though it's band seemed a little worn from use, it was still sturdy. He had a small stack of rocks on the ground next to him which he likely also pulled from his pouch, and had one in his hand already.

"I guess," Zelda nodded, using a hushed tone herself as she added, "what's the plan?"

"Well there are about," the boy stretched a little from his seated position, looking over the boxes just ever so slightly, before he plopped back down and continued to talk, "three people in here now, I wasn't expecting that," he seemed to think for a second. "But I guess that's why you're here!"

Zelda gulped, "what do I do?"

The boy nodded to the delectable pastry only a few yards ahead of them and said, "on my signal, crawl over there, grab the cake, and then wait for me to signal you back, okay?"

"What?!" Zelda asked breathlessly, slightly panicking. "I'm the cake grabber? Why am I the cake grabber?!"

"Because I have the slingshot," the boy grinned a pretty, white grin, then turned away from her to look over the side of the boxes again. Zelda let out a shaky breath as she proceeded to give herself an inward pep-talk.

The boy started to load the slingshot, making Zelda look curiously up at him as he did so. She slowly brought her head up to peak at the sight before them as well, seeing the three men for the first time. They had their backs slightly turned away from them, but that didn't mean they wouldn't see someone skittering across the floor from only about ten feet away.

Suddenly, the slingshot released with an almost silent flick, the rock landing hard on one of the larger man's rear-end. He yelled out a howl, and immediately turned to the skinny man beside him.

"Oi! What the hell was that for?!" The large man shouted, shoving the other a little by the shoulder as his other hand rubbed his injured rump.

"What was what for? Don't shove me!" The other retaliated, looking just as angry as he pushed the aggressor with two hands.

"Do you want to start somethin' punk!?" The one that was hit by the sling shot demanded, lifting his fists in the air.

"Guy's calm down," the third man who wasn't involved in the quarrel tried weakly, but to no avail.

"I wanna start somethin' if you got the balls to fight me!"

"Now," the boy grabbed Zelda's shoulder and brought her down behind the boxes again, then started to push her futher out. Her only response was a whimper as she crawled a little, reaching the edge of the two boxes that they were using for shelter. She looked back at the boy one more time, the look on her face was as if it was the last time she would ever see anyone again. He only smiled at her and winked, then brought his slingshot back up over the box-barricade, showing her that he had her covered.

As quietly as possible, Zelda began to crawl across the cement floor to the other side of the room. She was too afraid to look over her shoulder at the men tussling only a few feet away from her, and just kept her eyes focused on the little crevice between wall, and table which she had almost reached. Her elbows felt like they were going to give out on her she was so nervous, but she crawled relatively fast for the amount of noise she was making.

Finally, after what was only a few seconds, but what felt like hours, she reached the side of the table. Desperately, she pressed herself against it. Breathing erratically as she tried to calm her heart. She spared a wide-eyed look over at the boy who was making her do this, as he had put his slingshot down and gave a thumbs up, though he still looked like he was in a position to quickly load if necessary. Zelda simply blinked and briskly shook her head at him.

The boy looked over the edge of the boxes, then back at Zelda. He then made a strange circular motion with his hand that Zelda didn't fully understand. Furrowing her brow, she began to crawl towards him again, but he desperately mouthed the word 'stop' and held his hand out in a halting gesture until she slinked back against the table.

Now, he mouthed the word 'cake' repeatedly, making circular motions to his mouth and chewing obnoxiously, as if spooning in cake. Zelda nodded, remembering why she was over there in her 'deer-in-torchlight' type state.

Carefully, she turned around onto her knees, and slowly lifted her body up. She could see the men arguing and shoving each other, but turned all attention onto the cake. It was only a mere arms length away, she could reach it from here. Stretching her limbs as far as they would go across the table, her soft fingertips made contact with the cold silver of the cake-plate. She bit her lip as she slowly tugged the plate over to her, eventually making it close enough for both hands to grasp hold of while she pulled it eagerly to herself.

However, she slid it a little too fast, and the metal of the plate made a rather loud rubbing sound against the wood when it hit the table's edge. Zelda didn't address it, as if she pretended she didn't hear it, then no one would.

"Boys!" One of the three men shouted over the chaos, making the other two stop bickering for a moment "what was that?"

The room was eerily silent. Zelda was extremely aware of her own breathing as she glanced at the boy across from her who was mouthing words too fast for her to catch and gesturing wildly.

"Eh," another man perked up curiously, "is it just me or there something over by the table there?"

Zelda couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare helplessly at the boy who lead her into this mess, and he stared helplessly back at her. She mouthed to him the words 'I'm sorry,' and held the cake closer to her as if it could bring her salvation as she heard footsteps break the silence. Closing her eyes and turning her head away from him, she waited for the eminent arrival of the-

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Zelda's eyes snapped open as she heard a piercingly loud scream, that just seemed to keep going and going, and increasing in volume.

"Holy shit it's a kid?!"

"What's a kid doing in- OW!"

Said boy who had dragged her in here apparently decided that if they were going down, they were going down screaming. Literally.

Zelda starred with her mouth agape as 'Duh' stood on top of the boxes that had been concealing him, his slingshot flinging rocks so fast his hand was a blurr. The construction workers didn't really know what to do. The one that had been approaching Zelda changed course, and slightly retreated to get away from the shower of rocks. Another one was attempting to make his way _over_ to the boy, despite the constant pelting of pebbles. He wasn't making much progress though, and he looked _extremely_ mad.

It was then that Zelda understood what the boy wanted her to do. Still clinging to the silver plate of cake, she jumped up from her hiding spot and ran across the room, her eyes glued to the hole in the wall which would grant her freedom.

"Is that _another_ kid?!" One of them shouted.

"What the hell? She has our cake!" Another yelled back.

"Just rush the boy! He can't hit all of us at once!" The final decided as they all began to make their way toward the two children.

Apparently however, the boy _could_ hit them all at once.

Zelda didn't stop to see how the scene before her was progressing. As long as 'Duh' was still screaming, they hadn't caught him yet. Immediately, she shoved the cake all the way through the hole, sliding it out the other side. She crawled as fast as she could, grabbing on the edge of the bricks as soon as she reached them, and pulled herself out into daylight, next to the cake. She cradled it in her arms and prepared to run as soon as the boy crawled out.

Then, something truly terrifying happened.

The yelling stopped.

Zelda's heart skipped a beat. Had he been captured? Was he hurt? Did they eat him? Should she run? She kept glancing between the hole in the wall, and the walk to freedom. If she ran now she would be safe, but could she just leave the boy behind when he risked everything to save her?

"There she is!" Zelda heard one of the men shout as they emerged from the other end of the house. "Get her!"

The men started toward her in a half-run, every one of them looking more angry than she'd ever seen anyone look in her life. Still, she didn't move.

Just as Zelda accepted her fate, her foot got struck by something and made her glance down at a little wooden object, one that was finely crafted into. . .

A slingshot?

Just as Zelda had enough time to process what was happening, 'Duh' practically shot himself out of the crevice in the wall, grabbed his slingshot, bounced up on his feet, and had grabbed Zelda by the wrist. He didn't even say anything, he just yanked her as fast as his feet could take him in the opposite direction of their pursuers. Zelda stumbled for a moment, but was quickly able to match his sprint with her own as they ran into the crowd of people before them.

They dodged as many things as they possibly could, making many an innocent civilian drop whatever item they were carrying in surprise as the boy practically flung Zelda into them. She braved a look back, as she tended to do when in full-sprint, and to her horror, she saw the three men closing in on them. They weren't being nearly as gentle with the bystanders either, they were just shoving them aside and shouting profanities. Zelda felt a surge of adrenaline as she turned back around. They wouldn't be able to keep running, they would have to hide somewhere.

"This way!" She shouted to the boy holding onto her wrist as she began to take the lead. He didn't object, he simply followed as she lead him to something she had passed a little earlier that she thought might be perfect.

* * *

"Where'd they go?!" The smallest man demanded, stopping for a moment as he glanced around desperately.

The largest of the group was practically doubled over, wheezing as his massive chest went up and down far too quickly for his liking. "When I get my hands on those two runts. . ." he let his threat trail on. Mostly because he ran out of breath to speak with.

"Shh!" The third man hissed violently, looking around with crazy eyes he asked, "do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shh!"

"It almost sounds like . . . giggling?"

At those words, the strange childlike laughter grew slightly louder. The men whipped around, but didn't see any children near them. Yet somehow, the noise seemed to be coming from . . . the cucco pen?

Slowly, the trio approached it, murder in their eyes while they regarded the innocent white birds. The laughter grew louder, and also hushing sounds were being attempted. One of the men leaned down towards the pen, trying to see through the mound of feathers if there was anything else there. He began to reach his hand out, his two friends directly next to him as he did so.

"CUCCO ATTACK!" A boy shouted, jumping up and sending a mass of cuccos upwards in a panic and onto the three men who were approaching the pen. He grabbed Zelda's hand this time as she still held the unscathed cake protectively in her other arm. They hopped the fence and ran, laughing evilly as the three construction workers tried to fend off the terrified cuccos enough to see.

Zelda let the boy lead her up a small hill, and between a pathway that was formed by two cliff structures. Eventually, the pathway opened up to a rather creepy looking sight. Stone slabs with depressing engravings layered the clearing in a neat fashion. The ground turned to cobble stone, and continued up onto more hills, each filled with more barricades of gravestones, a fence wrapping around it's exterior.

The place where the boy had brought Zelda was none other than Kakariko's graveyard.

He didn't give Zelda long to sight see, for immediately upon entry, he took a sharp right to the only building located in the entire yard.

It was a shack to say the least. Dark wood which seemed to be old and possibly molding, unevenly pounded together into a square shape with one window, and one door that had a name plate reading 'Graveyard keeper.' The door is what 'Duh' was interested in.

He began to pound on the structure violently. "Dampe! Dampe!" He repeated, "open up, quick!"

"_Damn it, I'm coming_," came the muffled, tired voice of another human. Slowly, the door creaked open, which was all the invitation the blond boy needed to shove his way through, still toting Zelda along as he yanked her in as well.

"What's the meaning of-" the grave keeper cut himself off as he looked at the little boy in front of him, panting and leaning heavily against the door. His eyes widened in surprise at his appearance "Li-"

"We brought cake!" The boy cut him off before he could be kicked out, and Zelda weakly held up the pristine white pastry to show him. It really was a miracle the thing survived.

Dampe blinked at the two kids for a moment, the only sound in the house was the hard breathing as the two attempted to calm their hearts. Then, he began to smile, and soon it turned into a hearty laugh.

"Well, I would act surprised, but honestly this has happened about ten times now with this one," Dampe grinned an almost-toothless grin at Zelda, who returned it with her own sweet, dimpled one. Honestly, she wasn't surprised either.

* * *

". . . and did you see the big ones _face_ when you threw the cucco at him?" Zelda prompted, making the other break off into a fit of hysterics.

"That was _nothing_ compared to the look on _your_ face when they heard you take the cake off of the table!" He responded through giggles, which made Zelda laugh even harder.

"You're one to talk! It looked like you were making a shadow puppet play over there!" She fell on her back and clutched her stomach at the memory, making the boy shove her slightly, but fall on his back in laughter as well.

They stayed like that for a moment, both smiling and laughing at that days events as the sun began to slink away in the sky, taking that wonderful day with it.

Once they told Dampe about what happened, he just gave a roaring laugh and let them cut the cake. They shared it evenly, after all they got a pretty big piece, and none were disappointed in it. Maybe it tasted better to the children since they practically risked their lives to retrieve it. Either way, they eventually left Dampe's house to let him sleep since he was working the night shift, and just stayed in the graveyard as they were too afraid of the village. It was here that they _actually_ played childhood approved games such as: two-person tag, hop-scotch, and a weird version of capture the flag. Zelda didn't know if she'd ever had that much fun in her entire life.

Eventually though, the two children got tired, migrated up to the top of the graveyard and just talked. Zelda also didn't know it was so _easy_ to open up to someone after only one day. It was probably the age, or so she decided. They'd talked about that too, and as it turns out, he _was_ ten, just like her!

"The sunset is so pretty in Kakariko," Zelda observed, staring up at it as she supported her torso on her elbows.

"You think so?" Her friend asked, getting up into a sitting position to angle himself better as he squinted at the sky. "I think it looks way better where I'm from."

"Why's that?" Zelda asked, her eyebrow raised.

"No clouds. Also, it's all flat, so you can see the sun go down the whole way. No trees or buildings either, just all sun," he explained with a small smile.

"Where do you live?" Zelda asked him curiously, turning her gaze away from the sunset to look at him.

"The West. One of my sisters and I are here to get some supplies, then we're gonna head back. We do this like, once a month," He elaborated, then leaned back into his hands and looked more at the sky.

"Oh," Zelda said vaguely. This visit would probably be the last time they saw each other then. She cleared her throat and continued, "I live North of here in Castle town. Our sunsets aren't very good," she thought, scrunching up her nose. The large buildings and trees got in the way of it too easily.

"Castle town? No way!" The boy seemed earnestly interested, which surprised Zelda. "I've always wanted to go there! The city seems so cool! Kakariko's the biggest place I've ever been to," he admitted, but he seemed to want Zelda to continue on about her life in Castle Town. That wasn't good. It was kind of a lie.

"It's not that cool," She muttered, looking away from him.

"Are you kidding? There's so much to _do_ there!" The boy defended. "You can do whatever you want! You can play arcade games, play with a bunch of other people, pick-pocket tourists, and go to the market whenever you want," he finished, listing things off on his fingers. Zelda couldn't help but wonder what kind of place he lived in if there was no market.

"What do you do for fun then?" She wondered, trying to picture what kind of place the boy could have possibly described.

"I ride my horse," he answered automatically, then corrected himself with, "well, not _my_ horse, she's too young to ride. But when she's big, I'll be big too, and I'll ride her all over Hyrule," He grinned at Zelda, "and I'll visit you in Castle Town!"

Zelda blinked back her surprise as her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink.

"You . . . you'd want to visit me?"

"Well _duh_," he emphasized with a funny face, "you're my friend. Of course I'm gonna visit my friends."

Zelda almost wanted to cry in happiness. He called her his friend. He called her his friend! She sat there with a dumb smile on her face for quite the while, dwelling on the word. She supposed she was taking too long to respond, because he eventually followed his comment up with:

"Even if you are a spoiled brat," he said with a shrug. That brought Zelda back from from her happy stupor.

"Well _you're_ a big jerk," she retaliated, crossing her arms over her chest and flopping on her back.

"And you're a frog-face," He continued, smiling deviously.

"And you're a pig-head!" Zelda sat up to glare at him, and he happily returned the stare.

Then, in perfect synchronization, they both began to laugh at one another good naturedly.

Zelda couldn't believe she actually made a friend! Even if he was a terrible friend that made her steal and called her names and picked on her for no real reason. He was still her friend. Her real friend who didn't just act like he liked her because she was a princess. In fact, she found his rudeness strangely refreshing. She couldn't wait to tell Impa!

Impa. . .

IMPA!

Zelda jumped up from her comfortable seat in the grass, eyes wide and heartbeat erratic for about the millionth time that day.

"What's the matter?" The boy asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

"I'm late! I have to go!" Zelda frantically spat out as she started to run down the hill, hardly keeping herself from tripping.

"Wait go where? To the village?" The boy asked curiously, then followed it up with, "are you okay to go alone? What about the worker guys?" He stood up himself, confused at her sudden urgency.

"I'll take my chances!" She called, already halfway through the graveyard, "See ya later, Duh!"

"See ya Zel- oh wait no did I seriously not tell you my real name?!" He shouted after the fleeing girl, which made her stop dead in her tracks.

"NO!" She called angrily back at him, almost forgetting herself, which made him laugh blatantly at his own weird joke.

"My name is Link!"

"That's a _stupid_ name!"

"You're stupid!"

With that, Zelda smiled to herself and continued to run out of the graveyard. Though she knew she would undoubtedly be reprimanded beyond reason, she still felt a strange feeling of contentedness.

* * *

**Well there ya go! Don't forget to review, and thanks for reading (:**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N Hello again, and welcome to the second chapter of The Hero of Theives!**

**I'm not totally happy with what I did with this chapter, though it was necessary so, it is what it is. There's only one more chapter with Link and Zelda as children after this one. I gathered that the general consensus on them being kids was 'Liked it, but when does stuff happen?!' which I totally get. **

**Stuff will definitely happen.**

**Anyways, I'm not sure about the T rating of this fic. I did it just to be safe, and it will become much more adult. However, it will also retain a more light hearted humor, it's just how I write. Though it will get dark at times, of that I'm sure.**

**Really it depends. So if one day you randomly see that this fic is rated K+, don't be surprised, hehe**

**Anyways, please enjoy the chapter!**

**I do not own Legend of Zelda**

* * *

The lovely, upbeat tune played smoothly over the slight chatter of villagers, and the occasional cluck of the cucco. The player tried his very best to focus on nothing but the holes of the ocarina, and how his fingers danced over them delicately. His brow furrowed at the effort of recalling every note. He wasn't doing it as quickly as he should be. Saria played much faster, and it sounded much more beautiful when she did it.

Eventually, his friend's song came to an end, and the boy sighed as he removed his pretty little ocarina from his lips to glare at it slightly.

"That was magnificent Link!" The girl next to him practically shouted as she shifted onto her knees and pounded her fists up and down for emphasis. Her face was flushed in excitement at hearing him play, which made him grin a little. He wasn't really sure what 'magnificent' meant but he deduced that it was a good thing.

"Nah it really wasn't," he denied, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment as he added, "the song is supposed to go faster than that, and I messed up a couple of times."

"I think it sounded the best that way!" Zelda pressed, shaking her head.

"How would you know?" Link raised a brow, "you've never heard it the right way before."

"The right way was that way!"

"You're hopeless," Link smiled and punched her shoulder, but eagerly brought his ocarina up to position again, "I have more songs I can play better, that other one I'm still learning," Link confessed. It wasn't often anyone was so impressed with something he did, and he certainly didn't mind playing for such a happy audience.

"Like what?" Zelda asked, rubbing the spot on her arm where Link had hit her a few moments ago.

"I made one for my horse! She really likes it when I play," he explained, readying his fingers, "maybe even more than you."

"Then that one!" She prompted, pushing down on his knee as if it would make him start the song faster.

The boy happily obliged as he began the much less complicated, and naturally more slow song he had created for his little foal Epona. Zelda listened just as pleasantly as she had the first song he played. He thought it was a little strange that she was so keen on the music and nothing else, it really _had_ impressed her! She wasn't looking around in boredom or anything!

Goddess that girl was strange.

As his own song came to an end, he felt much better about it. He'd rehearsed that one many a time, and it went over quite smoothly if you asked him.

"Wow!" Zelda's eyes sparkled.

"Really, I'm not that good," Link promised the girl. Though he liked the attention, he felt that it was undeserved, "you should hear my friend Saria play," then he added teasingly, "you might pass out from excitement."

"Is that the person who taught you the first song?" Zelda asked observantly.

"Yeah she is," he held up his ocarina, "she also made me this-" he trailed off as Zelda snatched it from his hand.

"She's amazing!" She breathed as she inspected the instrument thoroughly, running her hands over the smooth, hard wood.

"Yeah she's the best," Link agreed reminiscently as he smiled. He noticed a sort of sad look cross the girls face at that, which was a complete change from the five seconds ago when she had excitedly forced him to play her a song after accidentally dropping his little instrument from his pouch.

"What do you guys do for fun?" She asked, but her voice had dropped from happy, to a weird monotone thing that didn't really fit her.

"Uh," Link began, looking at her strangely, "well, Saria doesn't like to ride, but she's super good at thieving!"

"Really?" Zelda's voice went from dry, to straight up disappointed as she just gave the boy a look.

"Mmhm," Link continued, ignoring her disapproval, "she usually pretends to play the ocarina for money from travelers, and then me and Mido sneak into their buggies and take stuff when they stop to give her rupees!"

"Mido?" Zelda chose to ignore the rest of the story.

"He's another one of Saria's friends,"

"Oh," the sad tone returned

"I hate him."

"Oh," she looked at him quizzically.

"What do you and your friends do for fun?" Link asked in an effort to bring her mood up again. However, it only seemed to work in the reverse as the girl's eyes widened and she began to panic.

"M-my friends?" She echoed, looking at the ground as if she was searching for answers.

". . . Yeah," Link attempted to meet her gaze, while she continued to avoid looking at him, "Zel what's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing's wrong!" She denied quickly, and then sprang up from her seat in the grass as she set her eyes on a random building in the distance, "I'm restless, we should go play an arcade game!" She proclaimed as she numbly began to walk toward the other end of the village

"What?" Link was irreparably confused as he watched the girl stumble off. With a sigh, he accepted the change in topic and allowed her weird behavior to be let go. For now. He stood up himself and slightly jogged to catch up to her.

"That game right there," Zelda pointed to one of the smaller buildings not too far away from them. Link squinted at the sign which read 'Shooting Gallery. Use whatever you want to shoot with, win prizes! Only ten rupees a go!'

The boy nodded, thinking of his slingshot, "yeah that sounds like fun I guess," he crossed his arms over his chest as he turned his attention to the girl once more, "but Zel-"

"Yes?" She had calmed down a little as she finally met his gaze.

"We don't have any money."

"Oh . . ." She trailed off for a moment, before adding "I guess I should've gotten some from Impa before she left, huh."

"Impa?" Link echoed, "is that the lady who yelled at you that night we met?" He scrunched his nose in distaste

"Yeah," Zelda flinched a little at the memory. "She only yelled because I made my babysitter cry by running away though. She's really not that bad."

"Well you know her best I guess," Link shrugged, "besides, she let you go unsupervised after that, right?"

". . . Sure," Zelda said noncommittally, and then took a septic glance around Kakariko. Link didn't really notice the action, as he was busy looking around the town for his own reasons. His hungry gaze settled on a group of three or four bystanders bartering with a street vendor not too far away from them. If they were looking to buy goods, then they would certainly have a fair amount of cash on them. A maniacal smile crossed his angelic face as he locked on target.

Zelda took note of this, regarding the boy with a quirked brow.

"I think I know where we can make money," Link announced. The already suspicious Zelda followed her friend's hard gaze to the vendor's shop. She sucked in a breath as her hands slipped to her hips authoritatively.

"No way," she scolded. Link simply gave her a look that said 'I got you to do it once, didn't I?'

"C'mon Zel," he prompted, gesturing to the townspeople a little ways away, "just a little from each! I promise they won't notice."

"That's not the point!" Zelda defended, absolutely refusing to let go of her morals again. "Those people worked for their money, taking it from them is unjust," there she went, using words Link didn't understand again. He really hated it when she did that.

"Who says taking it from them fair and square isn't hard work?" He pointed out. The girl just sighed, shaking her head at him.

"That's _not_ work. Work is making money doing stuff you're good at," Link opened his mouth for a snarky comment, but she quickly continued with, "not _taking _money. Making it."

"Well I'm not _good_ at anything," Link said with an annoyed tone, "nothing except stealing."

"I'm not really good at anything period," Zelda agreed, dropping her shoulders.

The two were silent for a moment. Zelda lost in thought, while Link was already starting to plan his battle strategy for pulling off a mass pickpocket. If he could just take ten rupees from each person, they wouldn't even notice a change in their wallets. He could wait until they were distracted by their purchases, maybe when they took out their wallets to buy something. They would put them back carelessly, and Link would see where they were located on each respective person.

"I've got it!" Zelda's sudden yell made Link jump slightly in surprise. He had been pretty focused on sizing up the people rather than the girl next to him.

"Got what?" Link asked, furrowing his brow.

"You're great at the ocarina," Zelda asserted, beaming at him. Link groaned at her, rolling his eyes while she practically bounced up and down.

"I told you, I'm not that good," he insisted, and then with a little confusion added "and even if I was, how would someone make money playing the _ocarina?_" Link stared at the girl like she was crazy

"You said travelers stop to listen to Saria all the time!" Zelda pointed out as she started to tug on the rim of Link's sleeve. The boy took note of her activity with a raised brow.

"Yeah but she's _really_ good," he chose to ignore her cloth tugging, "and besides, we didn't make any real money that way. We made it by _stealing_," he wasn't ready to give up his stance just yet.

"Please Link," Zelda started swaying slightly as she pulled lightly on his shirt. Her big, dark blue eyes seemed to somehow get bigger as she jutted her lower lip out slightly. Link found himself unable to look away from her like he knew he should, as her face became more and more sad.

"Zel . . ." Link trailed, not really knowing what to say. He had a feeling he knew exactly what she was doing, yet he was powerless to stop it.

"I did it your way once," she tilted her head down so she was looking up at him through her dark lashes, "won't you do this for me?"

The boy just stared at her for a moment, not saying anything as her gaze continued to bore into his own reluctant eyes. He seemed to be fighting an inward battle, and he seemed to be losing.

Finally, the boy sighed loudly, muttering, "_fine_, I'll try it your way," as he slumped in defeat.

"Yay!" Zelda cheered, letting go of him and losing her pouty facade.

"Spoiled Brat," Link hissed, annoyed mostly at his own weak will. Zelda however, didn't address his comment with a response.

.

The children used an old, empty pot they had found to the side of the walk way to hold the rupees they earned. They placed it in front of Link, who sat on a stump that had recently lost its life due to the construction and expansion Kakariko was enduring. Zelda lounged on the ground next to him, thanking every passerby who gave a couple spare green rupees, without fail.

Link was a little annoyed with the small amount people had been giving him. He _had _been doing pretty well, even if he could only play about four songs. Some of the villagers who gave were so cheap they only could spare one rupee. _And_ freaking Zelda acted all happy about it either way, and gave them smiles regardless, and then they would say 'aw what cute kids' as Link planned their respective demises.

After about an hour of Link getting frustrated, partly because his playing wasn't completely perfect and he didn't want people to hear it unless it was, and partly because the jerks hardly gave him anything for his efforts, they had earned about enough for six games.

"This is awesome!" Zelda exclaimed, digging through their pot of green, and the occasional blue rupee. "Look how much money you made Link! And you didn't even have to steal any of it."

"Yeah, yeah," Link groaned. He could have gotten that exact same amount in a third of the time if he has just taken it. He really didn't see a difference.

"Whoa! Wait a minute, is this a _red rupee_?" Zelda furrowed her brow as she picked up the gleaming gem, "I didn't see anyone give us a red rupee?"

"Weird," Link looked upwards at the sky, "maybe it happened that time you left to go to the bathroom," he suggested.

"I guess," she muttered and dug through the pot a little more suspiciously. She seemed to find something that made her mouth drop, ripping it out of the container to get a better look.

"Another one?!" She said with disbelief. Link winced, and continued to stare at the sky.

". . . Weird," he repeated, crossing his hands behind his back.

"Link!" Zelda turned to glare at the boy vehemently. He couldn't keep himself from giving a tiny smile.

"I couldn't help myself," he explained with a shoulder shrug. Zelda just continued to glare daggers into his unapologetic disposition. It might have been a better idea to take eight blue rupees, but hey, no one is perfect.

"You promised," Zelda groaned, throwing the more expensive rupees back into the pot and out of her hand like they were burning.

"I tried!" Link defended, finally looking down at the seated girl, "besides, now we get to have ten games instead of six," he pointed out, his grin clearly starting to irritate the blonde girl.

"I hate you," she said plainly, standing and hoisting the pot up with her. Link simply laughed, his bad mood lifted quickly as usual.

His slightly evil giggles continued as they made the short walk over to the shooting gallery, with Zelda trying to give him the silent treatment. He could tell she wasn't really that mad. They'd only known each other a week, but she got fake mad at him all the time, so he had to learn how to tell the difference fast.

As they began to walk up the few stone steps that lead to the humble brick building, Zelda hesitated. Link didn't notice her put the pot down and reach out to stop said friend from going inside.

"Wait," she began as she grabbed on to the back of his shirt to stop him. Quirking his brow, Link turned to face her and she released him.

"What is it?" He asked, noting that she had put the pot of rupees down.

"How do you do the slingshot?" She questioned, tilting her head. Link smiled at her.

"You picked this game, and you don't even know how to fire a slingshot?" Link commented as the girl kicked the ground awkwardly, "you really are stupid," he said, amused.

"Shut up!" She lightly hit his shoulder as she spoke. Link thought back to a little earlier in the day when Zelda got all weird and ran away. This presented a great opportunity to bring it back up. But, what had they talking about that made her run away in the first place?

"I'll just show you," Link decided after a moment of letting her steam. He'd decided he would ask her later.

Link dug through the pouch on his belt, shifting through his stuffed bag before grasping hold of the familiar wood-wrapped-in-cloth grip. Tied loosely to the handle was a tiny bag of deku seeds, which he removed, and placed to the side before handing Zelda the slingshot. The girl looked over the weapon in awe, which she seemed to do with a lot of Link's stuff, and tugged on the stretchy band at the top.

"You're already a natural!" Link commented, gesturing to her band tugging.

"That's really all you do?" Zelda inquired as she tried to tug the band more professionally

"Yeah. . . but no," Link frowned at her pathetic form as he took the slingshot back from her without warning, "you've gotta hold it like this, and pull back on the leather part here," Link held the shot in his right hand, using his dominant to pull back on the band as far as it would go while gripping the leather ammo-holder by its edges.

Zelda nodded, accepting the slingshot when he held it out to her. Coping him as exactly as possible, she held the handle in her right hand and pulled with her left, feeling rather uncomfortable about the positioning.

"Is this good?" She asked, slightly confused as it did not feel correct.

"Not even close," Link said with a sigh, "not even close at all."

"What do you mean?!" Zelda demanded, flabbergasted.

"First off, you gotta use two fingers to pull the leather, and you can't touch the inside 'cause it slows it down," Link began as Zelda regressed back to inspecting the slingshot.

"Well, what fingers do I use then?" She questioned.

"Your thumb and your," he held up his index finger and stared at it a for a moment before shooting the girl a grin, "nose picker."

"EW!" She shouted, dropping the slingshot.

"Calm down, I was kidding!" Link said between laughs as he bent down to retrieve his toy-weapon-thing.

"I'm _not_ touching any of your things! That's repulsive," Zelda crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

"Oh come on," Link rolled his eyes, "quit being such a princess and take the thing in your left hand," he demanded, annoyed that he had no idea what 'repulsive' meant, and therefore couldn't conceive a proper comeback.

Zelda whipped around to stare at the boy. He was fully expecting to have to do some insincere apologizing, or more unnecessary fighting, but to his surprise she just reached out and yanked the slingshot back from him.

"You used your other hand," she mentioned as she tried it the way Link instructed her.

"Yeah, but you don't do it my way," he said boredly.

"Well, why not?" She demanded, switching hands back and forth stubbornly.

"Zel, I'm trying to help you," Link pointed out, and then in order to prove himself, added, "which hand do you write with?"

"This one," she held up her right hand to show him.

"Then use _that _one," Link pointed at her left, which was loosely holding the weapon. Zelda sighed, but finally did as she was told. She used her index and thumb to pull on the sides of the leather holder, and brought the band back as far as it would go. It looked like she was having a much easier time having switched hands.

"Now am I good?" Zelda asked.

"Good enough," Link shrugged, then handed her a deku seed. The girl placed her ammunition in the leather holder, taking aim at a lone tree in the center of town a little ways away from the two. Closing one eye and sticking her tongue out in concentration, she fired.

The deku seed flew out of its holder at a dangerous speed, whirling straight through the open air, nowhere near the tree, and hitting the edge of someone's home with a loud _thump._

"Oops," Zelda murmured, then looked over at Link with guilt in her eyes. He sighed very loudly, then walked up next to her.

"Two things this time," he began, lifting her arm up to hold the slingshot further away from her. Zelda immediately dropped the noodle-like arm when he let go, so he again picked it up, and moved it in front of her until she supported it with her own muscle. "You have to keep _both_ eyes open, and you have to pull the string straight out, you can't turn it. Use between the handles to aim," with that, Link loaded another deku seed and pulled back on the string, moving Zelda's arm again so it was facing the tree. Then, he released hold of both things and sent seed catapulting into its target. A man standing by the tree jumped in surprise at the noise it made as the seed broke against the bark.

"Wow!" Zelda said excitedly, shifting her gaze between Link and the slingshot as she continued, "can I try again?"

"How about we just go in now?" He questioned, not really up to having to show her how to fire six more times. Zelda shrugged, but obliged anyways, jogging over to their pot of rupees before joining Link at the top of the stairs. Smiling, the two children entered the shooting gallery.

The building wasn't very big, but it was fairly long. It was all dark wood interior, with a singular desk seating a large, bulky man, who appeared to be a little bored. There was a plethora of animal plushies behind him and hooked to the wall, along with some cheaply made hats and gloves. All the way at the other end of the room, several targets rested in strange positions, attached to mechanical fixtures that Link assumed meant they moved.

Link walked up to the counter after digging his hand into the pot of rupees and picking up one blue, and five green. He plopped his handful in front of the man.

"One game please," Link requested with a smile.

"Weapon of choice?" The man asked. Link showed him the slingshot he had been carrying, which made the man nod approvingly, "yeah that's legal. Alright, you have sixty seconds to shoot all the targets. If you do you get a big prize, if you shoot half you get a small prize, if you shoot less, you get zip. Any questions?"

"Nope," Link shook his head, then accepted the rubber ammunition the man handed him for his game. He walked over to the pedestal that the player is supposed to shoot from, and turned to face Zelda, "watch this," he said, grinning, then faced forward again.

"Okay," she smiled. She would be able to see how to shoot better if she studied him, so Link was really just looking out for her.

"Are you watching?" He asked as the man went to go set the timer, but didn't turn around.

"Mmhm," she confirmed. Link looked over his shoulder at her anyways, grinned again, and got into ready position.

As soon as the timer dinged, Link was ready. The targets were slapped down by the rubber ammunition quickly, even the ones that spun and slid were no match for Link's concentration. He reloaded with impressive reflexes, it hardly took any time at all. When it was all over, it had only been about 45 seconds rather than the full 60. The man running the business whistled in appreciation as Link lowered his weapon.

"Wow kid," he began, nodding to Link, "I don't think I've ever seen someone so young shoot so good. You get your pick of the prizes," he said, gesturing behind him at the wall.

Link strolled up to the counter and inspected his plentiful options. Quite a bit looked good, but he knew what to get as soon as he saw it.

"That one please," he requested while pointing to the plushie he desired. The man said nothing as he unhooked the item from its hanger and handed it to Link.

He had picked a life-sized, stuffed, toy cucco.

He spun on his heel to proudly show Zelda his selection. She clapped in appreciation.

"It's so cute!" She exclaimed, giving him a sweet smile.

"Glad you think so," Link held out the plushie for her to take, "it's yours!"

Zelda's eyes widened as the man behind the counter snorted at the display, "really?!" She asked, exasperated as she gently took the poorly made stuffed animal like it was made of gold.

"Yeah! Now _you_ have to win _me_ something," Link said as she held the plushie to her face in order to get a better look. She then made a determined face.

"Right!" She agreed, taking out ten rupees from the pot.

* * *

Ninety rupees deep and eight games later, Zelda had managed to hit about a maximum of three targets a game. Even this was possibly on accident, and the girl seemed to be getting frustrated. She was down to their last ten rupees, and Link had been cheering her on the whole time.

"You got this Zel!" He shouted unnecessarily as the angered girl took aim for the last time. She only needed to hit five targets to win something, and Link had a feeling she would beat herself up if she didn't. Despite the fact that she'd never even picked up a slingshot until that morning.

The girl didn't respond to his encouragement, she simply waited for the ding of the timer, and started firing as best she could. The still targets had become sort of easy for her, they were usually the only ones she hit, but early on she had also hit the target that slowly drifted straight across! She'd hit four and only needed one more to get something!

Link hooted in excitement as the shop owner regarded the boy with annoyance.

"Both eyes open!" He suggested when Zelda entered her last ten seconds. The girl quickly snapped open her lid, and scrunched her forehead in concentration. The only targets left were moving very quickly, or spinning in and out of view. If Zelda was going to hit one, she really needed to concentrate.

Hardening her gaze, she fired her final ball of ammunition at the slowest moving target there. By some divine luck, the ball hit the top edge of the target and sent it downwards, making her total five before the buzzer went off.

The two children immediately howled in excitement as the shopkeeper rolled his eyes.

"Did you see me Link? Did you see?" Zelda questioned, practically bouncing up and down as she handed him the weapon.

"You bet I did!" He congratulated her with a shoulder pat, before turning her around to face the counter, "now go pick me out something pretty!"

"Okay!" Zelda agreed as she practically skipped up to the vendor. He had already gone inside of his counter to pull out a bucket containing lowly prizes, such as paper bracelets and small wooden trinkets.

"These are the half and over prizes," the shopkeeper told her. Yet, Zelda didn't have her sights set on any of those.

"Oh! Mister, is that one a half hit prize?" Zelda questioned as she pointed to something Link couldn't see.

"No," he drawled, "if it's on the wall, it's a prize for hitting _everything_. You pick from these," he pushed the box toward her.

"Oh," Zelda looked down, slightly depressed. Her big eyes widened as her lower lip jutted out at the man's words, "I tried so hard too," she mentioned with a sniffle, and started to sway back and forth slightly.

"Er," the man didn't really know how to react to the little girl as she appeared more and more saddened.

"It wasn't even _for _me," she rubbed her eye a little, "I tried for my friend and I still failed," Zelda began to blink quickly, as if holding back tears.

"N-now now," the man comforted awkwardly, "you did fine, you still get a prize!" He pointed out with an awkward smile.

"Yes," she looked down and glanced at the man through her long eyelashes, "but not _that_ prize," she looked over at the wall, and Link could only imagine that her eyes were watering.

"O-oh you meant this!" The man called as he began to unhook something that Link couldn't see, "I thought you meant the gloves! No, no you did well enough for this," he handed her the prize quickly, attempting to keep the girl from sobbing.

Zelda instantly lit up, grasping the man's large hand with both of hers and she gave him a painfully cute smile, "really?! Thank you so much, sir!"

"Uh, yeah," the man's face turned a light shade of pink.

Link stared at the exchange with his mouth agape. That guy had to be kidding.

Zelda said nothing else to him as she pulled the green cloth off of the counter and ran over to Link, who really didn't know how to feel about the situation.

And Zelda got mad at _him _for stealing. She was just as bad!

"Let's go Link, it's getting late," she pointed out as she grabbed his wrist while his other hand held the now emptied pot, and did not give him her prize. Link gave her an angry look, but let her pull him out the door anyways.

"Bye mister!" Zelda called charmingly.

"Uh, yup. Bye," the man responded, scratching his head as if trying to figure out what just happened. As the door shut behind the pair and they descended the small amount of stairs, Link yanked his hand away from her.

"You little cheat!" He commented, slight apprehension in his tone.

"What ever do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"What are you, a witch?" He accused, which made her purse her lips, "you would make such a good thief Zel!"

"Shut up," she growled, then shoved the dark green item at the boy. Link excitedly unfolded it, only to become a little confused at what he saw. It was triangular and long, sewn with cheap fabric tightly at the top, and extended into a cone shape at the bottom. It was hollow inside, and floppy as there was nothing to support the cloth. He quirked a brow.

"What is it?" He wondered allowed, clearly sounding unappreciative to Zelda's ears.

"It's a hat," she told him, rolling her eyes, "remember? We needed one to put the rupees in, but we had to settle for that pot?" She recalled, then all of her anger seemed to slowly melt away as she added, "I thought you could use it if you ever want to make more money with your ocarina."

"Well, I have a leather wallet," Link told her, but then he plopped it on his head and gave a goofy grin when Zelda blurted out with laughter.

"You look like a dork!" She told him snickering.

"And you look like a dog but I don't _tell_ you," Link countered playfully, which made her push his shoulder as they started to walk again. He didn't remove the hat.

It was getting rather late, the sun was essentially gone, but there was still enough light to see. A scarce few people were heading home from work, putting their horses in their stables and the remaining few shops were closing up as some of the bars began to open. Dusk had hit the hills of Kakariko.

This was the last full day Link would have with Zelda. He was leaving tomorrow morning and had yet to tell the girl. He was _also _told to be back early today in order to get ready, but obviously, he didn't follow through. He planning to walk Zelda back to her place; she had told him that 'Impa' wished to formally meet him, so he was going to be even more late getting back to his lodgings.

Yet, this formal goodbye was not meant to be.

"Link?" A voice called, clearly woman, though not exactly feminine, "Link is that you?"

The boy and the girl both stopped walking as Link turned around to face the figure clothed in black calling his name. He winced at her tone, he was going to be in trouble.

"Aveil," Link greeted, giving her an innocent smile, "how've you been?"

"Save it," Aveil sighed as she approached them, "I didn't expect you to come back of your own free will anyways," she crossed her arms at him, but then turned her attention to Zelda and said with a much softer tone, "is this the new friend I've heard so much about?"

Aveil was a tall, thin woman. However, she was slightly less muscular than the rest of their sisters, and shorter than most of them as well. She didn't really prefer to fight, but she was one of the best tactical minds they had. Since they were in Kakariko, and it was dangerous for her to be seen in public, she wore a long black cloak which covered her completely, and pants and a shirt similar to Link's. As she approached them, she pulled down her hood to reveal a sharply featured, but attractive, tanned face, golden eyes, and dark red hair which seemed even darker due to the lack of light. She wore a silver band necklace, and large gold blocks for earrings, less extravagant than usual.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am," Zelda said politely with a small curtsy, "I'm Zelda. Are you Link's sister?"

There was an uncomfortable pause.

Aveil's face strangely displayed about for different emotions in the span of one second, before settling on a completely stoic expression. Her eyes suddenly became hard, and Link regarded her with slight confusion as even _he _didn't really know what just happened.

"Zelda?" She echoed, ignoring the little girls question, "Link told me your name was Zel," she revealed to the two with a quiet tone, as if that was the reason for her strange reaction.

"Did I?" Link furrowed his brow. It was entirely possible, but he didn't think it was that big of a deal. Certainly not as much as Aveil was acting. The woman cleared her throat, seeming to try to plan her next words.

"Tell me, Zelda," Aveil began, her attention fully directed toward Zelda as she didn't even find Link's response worthy of addressing, "how old are you?"

"I'm ten," Zelda replied, blinking her large blue eyes up at the woman, and offering a small smile.

"Ten? Like Link?" Her voice was cold and monotone, influxing only for the question.

"Yeah, yeah, we're both ten," Link grumbled sarcastically. He wasn't comfortable with Aveil's weird behavior. She seemed like she was coming up with an idea. Link hated her ideas. To Zelda however, the woman appeared none too out of the ordinary.

"When's your birthday?" Aveil pressed, disregarding Link once more.

"Uh," Zelda seemed to wonder why the woman wished to know, she continued regardless, "February 21st."

Links eyes widened. That was his birthday!

Aveil then did something rather unexpected. She smiled at the girl. Zelda smiled back at her pleasantly, clasping her hands together behind her back. Aveil scratched the back of her neck as she seemed to relax a little, her happiness looking more sincere as more seconds passed. It took Link only a moment to panic.

"Sorry for the questions, Princess," Aveil purred. Zelda shook her head in the negative, as if saying that the woman shouldn't apologize, but then gasped in surprise as the weight of what she heard kicked in.

"Zelda!" Link shouted in a warning, but it was too late. As he yelled, he was pushed aside roughly by Aveil's powerful leg. A swift _shing _of metal followed his cry as Aveil grabbed for the hilt of her sword behind her back, hardly poking out of her cloak. She removed her deadly scimitar with tremendous speed, bringing it in a downwards slice, directly onto the sweet little girl before she'd even had the chance to scream.

Link didn't want to look away, but he couldn't help it as he himself bit his tongue in order to stop his own shout. He braced himself for the sickening sound of bone snapping against metal, and the horrid noises that insides made when removed from their host.

A strikingly familiar sound graced his terrified ears.

The clang of metal against metal chimed through the nearly empty town, and the scrapes of pressure against pressure continued as Link slowly began opening his eyes once more, curious to know what happened.

Crouching between Zelda and Aveil, weapons out and in direct contact with Aveil's sword, was a man. He wore a tight black suit, bandaged with white, scarce silver armor covering his most vital regions. His face had white and red face paint, forming a strange eye that appeared to be crying a singular tear. His expression was hard and his dark eyes were cold as he glared at Aveil.

"Gerudo scum!" He shouted, pushing outwards with his double weapons, a pair of sai, and disengaging Aveil's sword from his own.

"Royal family serving _dog_," she spat back, blocking the mans slashes with tactical grace, and maneuvering her body out of harms way with side steps and ducks.

The man stopped attacking when he realized Aveil wasn't doing any offensive movements what-so-ever. He stood up straight, and pointed one of his sai directly at her.

"Release the boy at once," he demanded in an angry, deep tone.

"Release the-?" Aveil repeated, before trailing off and smirking deviously at the lean man. Link hadn't realized it himself, but when Aveil had kicked him out of the way, he'd ended up thrown a little behind her. This man thought she was aiming to kill both the children.

"My, well this is awkward," Aveil finally said, sticking her sword in the ground and leaning on it's hilt. The movement was risky, but showed the strangely dressed man that what she was about to say was true, and that she had nothing to hide.

"What are you doing?" The man said, anger prevalent though he didn't raise his voice. It only made him that much more creepy, "do you _want_ to die?" He hissed before repeating his demand, "hand over the boy!"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Aveil kicked one leg around the other in a more casual position, "but the boy never _belonged_ to you."

"What are you talking about?" his chilling tone radiated over Link like a gust of wind, "that is _clearly_ a Hylian child. If you want to live you will send him over unharmed," the man waved his weapon violently as he spoke, showing that he meant business.

"Oh I'll send him over," Aveil's smile faded as her position became less comfortable. Link stared at the woman with bewilderment, a look that wasn't missed by the man dressed in ninja garb, "but if I do, know that I send over The Gerudo's future king. Know that if you take him to your bastard leach of a ruler, this little boy," she rubbed his blonde head as she, in turn, brought him closer to her protectively, "will be killed," her eyes narrowed and through clenched teeth she managed, "and know that the Gerudo _will_ declare war on Hyrule," Aveil's face suddenly softened, and she leaned away from the ninja in a less threatening pose, "but of course, it's your call," she said in a sing song voice.

For the first time, the man's face betrayed him as it relieved his, no doubt immense, anger. His grip tightened in his sai weapons while he slowly brought his arms to his side as he struggled to make a decision. Link inched closer to Aveil, in hopes that she wouldn't really send him away with the man. The movement of the little boy seemed to make the man finalize his decision.

"If you don't get the hell out of Hyrule _immediately_," he hissed through clenched teeth, "I'll kill you _and _your Prince of Filth without a moments hesitation," he threatened, making a horizontal slicing motion across with his weapon.

"How kind of you, good Sheikah," Aveil said sarcastically, then flicked her gaze to Zelda, who was clutching the muscular leg of the man who saved her so tightly that her knuckles were white, "and you sweet princess," she bowed as she spoke, pulling her scimitar out of the dirt in the same movement. Her eyes bore deeply into Zelda's as she bowed, never once faltering. This was a Gerudo sign of disrespect.

"Now!" the Sheikah demanded, picking his weapons up threateningly once more.

Aveil said nothing more, she simply grabbed rough hold of the back of Link's shirt, and yanked him along in the opposite direction. Zelda stared after him as he melded into the darkness, and he stared back at her.

Link refused the break their gaze until both the Princess and her guard disappeared from his vision.

* * *

**Aveil isn't an OC guys! She's the lady who gives you your official Gerudo membership in Oot Gerudo fortress! She also might be in Majora's Mask idk I haven't finished that game yet.**

**Please feel free to review, favorite, or follow, and I look forward to hearing from you (:**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N Hello again, and welcome to Hero of Thieves, chapter three! ****I think this one is my favorite so far.**

**A couple things before you begin. First off I would like to give a shout out to Stargirl98 for her kind and helpful reviews! I couldn't reply to you since you were anon, but I really really appreciate your opinion, and everyone else's. You made me excited to get this next chapter out, so thank you!**

**Second, you'll all be happy to know that the Gerudo are actually _involved_ in this one, so that should be good.**

**Also, I don't know if you remember that thing from middle school where everyone had this 'pirate vs. ninja' thing going on? Or was that just my school? Either way, I always think of that with the Gerudo and the Sheikah, so I just always picture their race not getting along. I don't know if other fanfictions do that. . . I think I saw a couple that did. Either way, I hope it's not that weird!**

**And finally, I do not own LoZ**

* * *

The Sheikhan Guard and the Young Princess wasted no time in returning to Hyrule Castle after what had transpired. Zelda was scheduled to remain in Kakariko for another five days, though once the village was thought to be compromised, she was ushered into a hasty departure under the cover of night, and the protection of about six armed guards.

The poor little girl seemed to be in a state of comatose.

Hyrule Castle was a short trip from Kakariko, a mere few hours on horseback. For that reason, the Princess arrived safely back at said castle with no more complications. She had attempted to sleep through the carriage ride, though was unable to due to untamable thoughts and nerves. She had almost died that night. She had almost died that night, and the only real friend she'd ever had, had tried to kill her.

Zelda clenched her small, soft fist in determination.

_No_, she thought to herself during her long, lonely carriage ride, _it wasn't Link. I must give him the benefit of the doubt._

Even the Princess' own thoughts felt hollow.

The familiar Castletown drawbridge that raised every sunset without fail, was temporarily lowered as word had been sent ahead of the princess' late-night arrival. The horses that pulled Zelda's cart along walked steadily onto the bride and into the cobblestone path of the town, snug between a box of Sheikhan horses. Due to Castletown's rather strict curfew, the princess' carriage underwent a smooth ride all the way to the castle, without any disturbances from civilians. The princess had managed a successful voyage back to her home, in only one night.

A shell-shocked Zelda was lead out of her temporary lodgings-on-wheels, by a very familiar, very relieved face. Zelda managed to give her concerned nursemaid a comforting smile, while Impa simply took the girl into a reassuring hug.

"Oh thank the goddesses," Impa breathed, holding the little girl close to her as she spoke. Finding it rather difficult to breath in the tight hold of her muscular guardian, Zelda attempted to push away.

"I'm really alright," the young princess managed, looking into the eyes of the Sheikhan with an earnest expression, "you can all stop worrying now,"

Impa gave a familiar half smile, "I never stop worrying," she commented, hosting the girl up into the air so that she was resting on one of Impa's strong arms as the woman began walking toward the castle's entrance. Zelda wrapped her arms around Impa's neck in an attempt to steady herself.

The pair walked through the grand doors of the castle lobby, trailed closely by the other Sheikahs who had escorted Zelda back to her home. The princess felt a strange wave of fatigue once she finally entered the castle doors, the polar opposite of how she had been feeling her entire ride in.

Maybe the shock was finally wearing off.

Impa had carried her charge all the way to Zelda's chambers when she finally turned to her loyal Shiekhans and made a motion of dismissal. The uniformed ninjas bowed respectfully, before turning to depart in an orderly line. However, Impa held her hand out to halt the final member of Zelda's escort.

The young man blinked in confusion at Impa's touch, though nodded to his superior in understanding after they shared a look that Zelda didn't quite understand. Without words, the three opened Zelda's chambers, and quietly slid inside with Impa locking the door behind them.

Zelda had been set down by that point, as she took refuge in one of her red cushioned love seats that was placed in front of a lone, large, crystallized window pane; its velvety red curtains shut for the night. She knew it was in bad manners to immediately flop down onto her bed. She would have to be patient as she took part in whatever conversation Impa wished to have with the two of them.

The Sheikhan man who Impa had requested come into Zelda's room was the same man who had saved her only a few hours before. He had been tasked with trailing the princess for the day, as Impa wasn't comfortable leaving Zelda completely alone with a stranger. Though, she also wasn't cruel enough to keep the girl from her new friend. It was the compromise reached between the two after Zelda had ran away from her guard on the first day they had been stationed in Kakariko.

Even though Zelda had disliked the idea, she hadn't protested too strongly. Now however, she knew enough to be greatly appreciative of Impa's paranoia.

"Sir Zunari," Zelda began, turning her attention to the Shiekan man who had saved her life, "I wish to formally thank you," she finished with the most sincere smile she could manage at the moment. Directly after the near-death event that had transpired, Zelda couldn't think, let alone from a proper thanks. She felt it was a necessary formality now, however.

"Please don't thank me Princess," Zunari shook his head, leaning on the column of her bed as he spoke, "protecting you is as natural as breathing. I deserve no recognition."

Zelda did not like that response, "surely that is not true," she disagreed. Her speech was much more formal than it had been previously with Link. She assumed it may have just been a side effect of being inside the castle, "you saved my _life_, that's not the same as escorting me on a morning ride Sir Zunari,"

The man shook his head, opening his mouth to defend his humble stance, though was cut off by the hushed tone of Impa.

"Do not speak of such things in the castle," she reprimanded, fixing the two confused juniors with a glare, "we have to get our stories straight before morning."

"Lady Impa?" Zunari said with a questioning tone, "what do you mean by 'our stories'?"

"Did you tell anyone what happened to the Princess besides myself?" Impa pressed, ignoring his question.

"I've told no one else anything . . . in detail," he began after a moments pause, "just the other Sheikah that her safety was compromised in Kakariko."

Impa let out a sigh of relief, "good. We wouldn't want this matter spiraling out of control, now would we?"

Zelda immediately knew to what Impa was referring. Fixing her eyes on the cherry wood floors, covered with a woven wool rug, Zelda surmised, "you mean with my father," her inquiring tone made the two Sheikah look at her blankly, "you don't want this spiraling out of control _with my father_."

Impa nodded, "we can't tell him what happened."

The mere mention of this seemed to enrage Zunari, "lying to the King of Hyrule?! That's blasphemy!" He pointed out in a whisper yell, standing up straight and out of his casual position, "you can't _seriously_ expect me, a loyal Sheikah, to _lie_ to the head of the royal family, do you?!"

"Calm down already," Impa hissed, "Sheikah are sworn to _protect_ the royal family, and sometimes you lie to protect the ones you love, correct?" The woman comforted, slowly placing a hand on the panicking man's shoulder in an effort to calm him, "like when you tell a small child that their beloved dog ran away, rather than telling him that it got trampled by a horse. Lie to protect."

"The king isn't a _child_," Zunari countered, eying the woman with a slight amount of distrust.

"No, but he's rash like one," Impa pointed out, removing her hand from his shoulder as he was unable to respond to her.

"Especially when it comes to Gerudo," Zelda added, her eyes still transfixed on her floorboards, "if he knew of this event, there's nothing in the world that would stop him from starting an all out war."

"That's not what you want Princess?" Zunari asked, his inquiring a little out of place. Impa did not scold him on it however, she simply looked to Zelda in curiosity at her response, "the only Gerudo you've ever met just tried to kill you."

The young girl flinched, finally looking up to meet their probing eyes, "of course that's not what I want," she breathed, a little scandalized at the implications of his words, "this contained action is _not_ the responsibility of a whole race!"

"Exactly," Impa agreed, nodding at the Princess approvingly as she crossed her arms over her chest, "which is why we should tell something _else_ to the King."

"We brought the Princess home early because of a safety issue," Zunari pointed out, "we'll be lucky if his brain hasn't already leaped to this conclusion," the man mentioned bitterly, clearly still not sitting right with the idea of lying to his king.

"But lucky for us, nothing actually _happened_ to Zelda physically," the princess found it a little funny that Impa felt the need to add the world 'physically,' as if Zelda was a glass doll, covered in cracks of emotional scarring, "so nothing happening is our story."

"What do you mean?" Zunari asked with a furrowed brow.

"We say that there were reasonable amounts of _rumors_ of Gerudo presence in Kakariko," Impa explained, "That way, even King Daphnes won't be so quick to war, and guard will still be increased to deal with a problem that you and I both know is prevalent."

"But sending her home in the middle of the night?" Zunari shook his head, "and only for a couple of rumors? It doesn't add up."

"Zelda snuck out at night," Impa improvised quickly, "the immediate transportation was both an issue of safety, and discipline."

"What!?" Zelda exclaimed, then slumped undignifiedly into her chair as she knew there was no backing out of it, "so I get in _trouble_ now?" She murmured with a defeated tone.

"Well you _did_ run away a few times, if I recall," Impa pointed out to the pouting girl, who only sighed and did not fight the matter any further.

"So I didn't see any Gerudo personally," Zunari repeated for clarification, still not sounding pleased, "I only found Zelda out at night, and that, coupled with the Gerudo _rumors_, is why we sent her home?"

"Exactly," Impa gave the man a soft, half smile, "by doing this, realize you've had a very large part in keeping balance in Hyrule. May the goddesses bless your cooperation."

"I know," Zunari muttered, staring off at nothing in particular as he spoke.

"You may be excused now, young Sheikhan. You did exceptionally well tonight," Impa walked over to Zelda's door to temporarily unlock it, "you have my highest praise,"

"And mine!" Zelda chipped in helpfully. Zunari said nothing else, he simply bowed to Impa and the Princess like the other Sheikah Guards did when dismissed, and exited the room.

The remaining woman closed the door behind him rather than following, leaving her hand to loiter on the knob indecisively, as if waiting for instructions. Zelda clearly recognized this action, as after a few silent seconds had passed, the princess spoke in a slightly quivering voice.

"He," she swallowed a lump in her throat, "he . . . was my friend," she murmured, curling into her seat informally, as if holding herself. The words were all Impa needed to lock the Princess' door once more, before walking over to where the young girl lay defeated in her chair, and wrapping her arms around the child's shoulders comfortingly.

"I'm sorry Zelda, but I don't think that he-" was all the Sheikhan could offer as the little girl burrowed her head into the warmth of the woman's shoulder. Impa was a little uncomfortable to hug due to her standard metal armor and hard body, though Zelda wasn't about to get picky.

"I don't understand what I _did_," Zelda managed, her eyes beginning to brim with tears as her small fingers dug into her nursemaid's back, "I know the Gerudo hate my father, but _me_?"

"Hatred only breeds more hatred," Impa answered as she allowed the young girl to cry into her clothing, "the misconceptions of a certain people spread, and spiraled. Your father did not handle the Gerudo well after the war ended, and because of that, Ganondorf's followers only merged with Daphnes' enemies," Impa let out a sigh before continuing, "that boy was never your friend."

"But _I'm_ not my father," Zelda whined, as if convincing the Gerudo themselves, trying desperately to ignore that last part of what Impa had just said, "I had nothing to _do_ with his decision to exile them! It's not my fault!"

"No my dear," Impa agreed, patting her soft blonde head as she spoke, "but you _are_ a Nohansen, and that's good enough for them."

* * *

The pair of dejected Gerudo departed from Kakariko as soon as conveniently possible. Directly after the incident, they silently made their way to the back alley where their humble, temporary lodgings were located. Every month they came, they stayed in the attic of an unpopular potions shop ran by a singular elderly woman. She had told them that her grandmother was a member of the Gerudo, and because of that, she'd always felt a loyalty toward the clan. However, she wouldn't stand for any attention her guests brought as she wasn't looking to be imprisoned. Due to this, it was unlikely that she would be allowing them to stay in her shop again.

Without speaking a word to one another, the two rolled all of their supplies into blankets and baskets, tied with rope and twine. Aveil had already done most of the packing, so this activity didn't take too long, as they really only had to tie everything together.

Once they had completed this brief job, Link used the moment to take one last look at the damp, triangular shaped attic. Wooden support beams lined the middle, and it was cluttered with boxes of dried herbs, jelly, and other supplies used for potion making. To the side, there were two surprisingly comfortable mattresses made tightly with red, wool blankets, and a pale of room-temperature water that the lady allowing them to stay always made sure was fresh.

The slamming of the attic door made Link start slightly, tearing him away from the surprisingly comfortable sight. He sighed when he realized that Aveil had just left with her half of the supplies. With a huff, Link grabbed his bunch of items which were now all knit together tightly, and threw it over his shoulder.

Primarily, the Gerudo bartered for supplies using stolen gold and jewels they had acquired during raids. The majority of what they brought home was jugs of water, and red potions made by the woman who let them stay. They also brought back blacksmith supplies, like hammers and tongs, as they preferred to make their own swords, spears, and other weapons. Though pre-made shields were occasionally useful, they always bought metals and coal. Every month when they would return, the Gerudo would dine on fresh crops that couldn't be grown in the harsh desert, like pumpkin, berries, and corn. Usually, all they had to eat was sheep that they herded secretly only a little ways away from the fortress, whatever other game they could find, watermelon (rarely), and leevers.

Link always hated leevers.

He pulled the string on the lift-able door upwards, the hinges creaking open as they always did. Descending the ladder was difficult with the extra thirty pounds weighing him down, though he managed it with only mild complications. He made it to ground floor just in time to see Aveil thanking the woman for letting them stay, and warning her about a guard that may or may not have seen her.

The old woman expectedly started to go off on Aveil, and Link took this as his opportunity to sneak out of the shop.

The horses were tied up in a community stable, being taken care of for the week for only 20 rupees a horse. The great, black Arabians towered over most of the regular riding horses, they were only a little smaller than the draft horses. Link hobbled his way over to these stables located at the front of the town, the stable boy clearly asleep somewhere at this time in the night. When the horses caught sight of the familiar figure, they began to neigh in anticipation. What could he say, animals loved him.

"Hey guys," Link whispered, touching their snouts in hopes that they would stop whinnying, "we're gonna be leaving a little earlier than we thought, alright?"

As if understanding, the horses stopped excitedly prancing, and their movements changed to only slight sways. Link saddled the slightly smaller female with a new leather saddle that they'd bought, tying his bunch of supplies off his shoulder and onto her with a thick wad of rope.

Aveil came in right when Link had finished, and as she began to work on her horse, Link set out on a miniature quest to find a stool to step on in order to mount the large animal.

By the time he'd found a step-up big enough, Aveil was already done and waiting impatiently just outside of the stable. With mild difficulty, Link scrambled to the top of his horse, and gently kicked it forward into a walk as they joined the loitering Aveil. Link opened his mouth to say something to the woman, but she whipped her horse around and started toward the exit of the village before he could get a word out. With a groan, Link followed her.

The guard of Kakariko's entrance was priorly paid off, so he said nothing as the two Gerudo road their impressive horses out to Hyrule field. He did look a little concerned about the hour of which they were leaving, but didn't address it as he simply opened the small metal gate, allowing the pair to wander into the vast openness of said field.

When they were a decent while away from the town, Hyrule castle looming in the distance, illuminated under the moonlight. Link finally braved speaking.

"Aveil-" he started, but was unable to continue as the woman clicked the back of her tongue twice, snapping her legs quickly in order to send her horse into a canter. Dust rose at the horses sudden fast movement, puffing it's way over to Link in a cloud. The little boy sighed exasperatedly, kicking his own horse ahead to match the others pace. Every time he got too close however, she would lean forward and gallop on even faster.

What was Aveil mad at him about? She was the one who almost sliced his friend in half! How was Link supposed to know that that girl was the princess?

Convincing himself that _he_ should be the one to be mad, Link no longer tried to start conversation with the woman as they rode on in an uncomfortable silence for hours upon hours. Eventually, after a long while of cantering, their horses grew tired so they slowed them back to a walk. After all, it was too dangerous to stop completely with the prevalent possibility of being followed. Usually, the trip would take over a half a day, as they would stop to catch a breif rest and get something to eat. Instead, they rode on all night without breaking, making the entire trip last only about eight hours.

Finally, an exhausted Link recognized the small rock fencing that was used to keep their sheep in a generalized area. That meant they were little more than a mile out. The horses were clearly not up to continuing much further, so it was lucky for them as well.

"We're probably going to go to war," Aveil's sudden voice spooked Link slightly in the eeriness of early morning, "best case scenario, we never go back to Kakariko again. Never mind Castletown or anything in between," her voice was cold and unforgiving, which only made Link feel slightly enraged.

"Why are you acting like it's _my_ fault?" Link demanded, still having enough energy in him to argue, as always.

"Because it _is_ your fault!" Aveil hissed, finally turning to look at him. Her horse started uncomfortable at her tone, but calmed back down quickly.

"How was I supposed to know that was the princess?!" Link shouted back angrily, "excuse me for not trying to kill every Zelda I meet!"

"You should always react at least _suspiciously_ to every Zelda! Use your brain Link," Aveil told him, glaring at the boy in the pale moonlight. It was starting to get a little lighter in the sky, but not by much as everything was still a hazy grey, "she was your age, near the castle, and was drawn to _you_ of all people! She has a triforce piece, if you don't remember."

"Of course I remember!" Link was getting very defensive, "and she wasn't near the castle! Kakariko isn't Castletown. We never saw each others marks! I thought a princess would be dressed like royalty or something," Link tried, looking down at his hands which held tightly onto the reins, "she just seemed so . . . normal."

"Well because of _your_ lapse in judgement," Aveil wasn't going to let this one go, "her tyrant of a father will no doubt use this as an excuse to eradicate us."

"You didn't have to try and _kill her_," Link mentioned, starting to feel the guilt Aveil was attempting to instill on him.

"You're right. If you'd already done it in private, this never would've been an issue," she said remorselessly. Link swallowed a lump in his throat, "or better yet, if you'd actually _told_ me about her, I could have done it more _tactfully_. Either way, Hyrule would have been left without an heir, and we wouldn't have even been suspects."

Link said nothing else to defend himself. While they'd been arguing, their horses had habitually made their way up the side of the cliff that marked the entrance into Gerudo territory. The grass had disappeared from the ground a whole back, replaced with a mixture of rock and dirt in a way that wasn't ideal for cultivating crops. Currently, they were passing between two large cliffs, the familiar bridge that lead to the fortress in sight. Link felt a wave of relief crash over him at the view.

"Why couldn't you've done this when it was Nabooru's turn to bring you?" Aveil asked rhetorically, clearly worrying about how she was going to explain this fiasco to the rest of her people, "Erla probably would have let _her_ get away with it. I'm skinned."

Link still didn't respond as they took the bridge one at a time. He was worried about _himself_ getting skinned, thank you very much. The convenient formation of many large rocks created a curved passageway that lead to their fortress, making it extremely well defended. Though Aveil was in front of the boy, he still caught sight of the Night Guard who seemed utterly shocked to lay her eyes upon them.

"Aveil? Link!?" His sister exclaimed, dropping her spear slightly as she regarded them with confusion, "you weren't due back until tomorrow evening! What're you-"

"There was a problem," Aveil cut her off, not up to repeating the story just yet, "please call the council together. I have to speak with them immediately."

The guard looked like she wanted to press further, but after catching sight of the look on the other woman's face, thought better of it and simply reached for the animal-boned horn hooked on a notch in her belt. She placed her lips to the small end, and blew powerfully into it, creating an loud noise that echoed all throughout the camp, and continuously for about a mile out. The pattern in which she played it was very familiar to Link, it wasn't the danger tone, that was three long drawls. But it was one short, one long, another short, and a final long. This noise symbolized an important, immediate gathering of all members of the Gerudo. It appeared that the guard misunderstood slightly as Link was almost positive Aveil just wanted to address the council, and not the enter clan. She clearly rolled her eyes as the entire tribe started to poke their heads outside of their homes.

The Gerudo fortress was built primarily out of limestone, carved into the side of a cliff. It was huge and magnificent, very tidy and well-kept. One would be hard pressed to find a messy spot in the fortress. Besides Link's room of course.

The living quarters were mostly located to the right in huts, though some lived inside the massive fortress, like Link. These people were mostly firsts. It wasn't a matter of luxury, but a matter of security for the fortress and its interior. If anyone broke inside, it was of prevalent concern that there would be trained fighters ready to defend it.

The fortress held many weapons and the bulk of their treasury. Their books and art, as well as most of their prison cells and most all of their food supplies, so it was important that it was well guarded. They had one spire for political prisoners, but that wasn't used very often.

Link's room, as heir, was located at the very top of the fortress in the most secure location possible. It was slightly larger than the others rooms, and he had his own private study, but besides that, it wasn't really any more lavish than everyone elses.

To the west was the desert, guarded by a massive stone door that opened only for Gerudo skilled enough to make it the journey, for hunting and gathering reasons. Of course, Link was only allowed to go out to the desert if accompanied by at least two firsts, as was any child.

As torches inside of homes began to be lit, and the fortress began to stir, Link dismounted his horse without much grace, Aveil following suit. He began to lead the great mare over to the stables, when he heard someone call his name.

"Link!" An eager shout made him turn around to face the high pitched, melodic tone of his best friend. Saria was running up to him, still in her sleep clothing, and with her strangely green hair wildly flowing behind her as it wasn't tamed with a headband or hair tie.

She was another child born in the Gerudo fortress, but who had no actual Gerudo lineage. Her parents were some of the handful of people who admitted to being loyal followers of Ganondorf, so they were accepted into the clan with open arms. One can say a lot about the Gerudo, but they don't care much for blood. If someone is willing to pull their weight, then they will be received into the tribe without much complaint. In the desert, they don't really have the luxury of prejudice.

For the most part, that is.

"Saria!" Link offered the girl a surprisingly sincere smile as she jumped on the boy, her tiny body wrapping its arms around his neck.

"What are you doing back here at this hour?" She asked as she untangled herself from the boy. Link scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Ugh!" A groan sounded from a little ways away, making Link's attention shift momentarily. "Lizalfos Breath is back _early_?" he recognized that snobbish voice immediately.

"Mido," Saria gave the ginger boy a look, which made his cheeks turn a weird color, before he shook his head and reverted to eying Link with annoyance.

Mido was brought into the camp as a newborn baby. He was a little older than Saria and Link, but not by much. Still, a little older meant a little taller, and that would never cease to bother Link.

"I'm _not_ in the mood, Freckled Fart," Link warned, which made Saria give Link the same look she had Mido. Though Link didn't have any reaction.

"Your insults are as stupid as your face!" Mido spat back, making Link prickle slightly.

"Boys please!" Saria whined, placing one hand on each of their shoulders, "Link's been home for five seconds!" Link did feel bad for her, she really only wanted them to get along. It wasn't Link's fault though! He never _wanted_ to pick a fight, Mido was just a jerk.

"Sorry," the older boy murmured, looking down at the ground. He was always so much more agreeable when Saria was there.

"He started it," Link pouted, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly.

Before anyone else could say anything, Link felt a hand roughly grab his shoulder and begin to yank him away from his friend and his . . . Mido.

"Link?" Saria asked, taking steps toward him while he was being dragged.

"I'll tell you later!" He called after her, which made the girl nod, a little concerned. Mido also looked confused, though wasn't going to complain about Link leaving. The blond boy looked up at his captor, only to unsurprisingly see Aveil's hard face, angrily strutting onwards.

Link stopped struggling and spun himself around so that he was facing the direction which Aveil was pulling him. She was predictably leading him to the council's wing of the fortress, probably planning to have him there in order to divert some of the heat away from her. Link felt his breathing increase as they passed through the stone doorway, noticing that most of the second and the first had already assembled, and they did _not_ look happy.

Aveil practically threw him into one of the seats, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the Gerudo gathered. They weren't exactly happy with the rough treatment of their King-To-Be, but none said anything about it as they assumed it was for a reason. He and Aveil typically got along swimmingly. Besides, he had a feeling they would change their minds in a few moments.

It only took a few more minutes for the rest of the council to gather together, slight chatter was prevalent as they all wondered aloud about what was going on. Erla, the leader, sat at the head of the long table with mild annoyance clearly written on her face. Her legs were crossed and her hands tucked into her armpits as she gave everyone at the table her trademarked glare.

"What's the meaning of this?" She fumed, silencing everyone at the table instantaneously, "the sun isn't even up yet and we're having a _meeting_? Who called this?" She demanded, uncrossing her arms only to use them for angry gestures. Aveil stood from her seated position.

"Ah, it was me Erla," Aveil's normally confident voice wavered slightly at the beginning, before correcting itself. That was some serious proof that she was nervous. Erla wasn't at her most unforgiving with regard to Aveil, some would even say she liked the sharp witted girl, but that didn't mean she would hesitate to smack her upside the head if she was told the wrong thing. That applied to everyone, actually. Double for Link.

"You're back already?" One of his sisters questioned, seeming to not have noticed her before. This started a chain reaction of Gerudo women asking what had happened, why were they back early, and if everything was alright.

"Quiet!" Erla shouted over the voices, slamming her hands on the table and rising from her seat in one fluent movement. She let her piercing gaze wander over the girls for a moment, making damn sure they weren't going to speak again, before she turned her glare to Aveil. Since Link was right next to her, he felt her shiver slightly against his arm. If they weren't so mad at each other, he might have actually tried to comfort her. But they were, so tough luck.

The woman cleared her throat slightly before speaking, "the visit to Kakariko did not go as planned. We brought back all the necessary supplies, but . . . but by my estimation, it's unlikely that we will ever be able to use Kakariko for a supply dump again," this time, instead of many voices starting an uproar, there was a chorus of gasps and looks exchanged among the sisters, as they knew they would likely be yelled at again for talking. Link shut his eyes tight, as if in pain. He knew what was coming next.

"_What_?" Erla growled, leaning forward on the table. Even hunched over, Erla towered over Aveil. Fully erect, the woman was probably 6'5''.

To give Aveil credit, she met the woman's dreadful gaze, dead on, "I attempted to assassinate the Nohansen Princess who was visiting Kakariko for unknown reasons, but was spotted by a Sheikhan Guard," Aveil let her gaze trail around the room at the utterly shocked faces, "and Link's position as Gerudo King has been compromised and revealed to both the Princess, and the Sheikhan who thwarted my attempt at killing her. I threatened the Sheikah with war if he took the boy, and it was the only way I could keep us both from becoming prisoners," Aveil finished, sitting down almost as soon as she had completed her story.

The silence almost hurt. Erla's lack of speech was particularly terrifying, she just sat there, mouth cupped in her hands, elbows resting against the table in a mix of disturbance and thought. Link nervously rubbed his hands around one another as the silence grew more thick. Absolutely no one spoke for a solid two minutes.

Finally, a brave soul found a voice, "you're-," the sister almost seemed to forget what she was saying when every one of their heads turned to stare at the pirate desperately, "you're sure that the Sheikah saw you were a Gerudo?"

"Yes," was all Aveil offered, no further details into the matter were discussed. Lucky, the question seemed to have paved way for more council members to find words.

"Link is very," another started, and stopped to search for a word before continuing, "general looking. The _two_ people who saw him probably won't remember what he looked like ten years from now when it _actually_ becomes important," she finished helpfully, causing a domino effect of nods and the occasional 'that's right's and 'good point's.

Link tugged on his shirt's collar as he prepared for Aveil to throw him under the carriage.

"Unlikely," Aveil told the council, making them quiet down once more, "in the week that we were there, Link _unknowingly_," she made sure to emphasize the word when the boy shot her a kicked-puppy look, "befriended the princess who now knows his identity."

The uproar started again, the Gerudos were yelling out too many things at once in their own individual commanding voices to pick any one speaker out of the crowed. Link regarded the scene with a wide-eyed composure, mildly horrified at the implications of this rage. And he thought he felt guilty before. How could he be trusted to lead these people if he couldn't even do the _simplest_ thing right? Don't befriend the family that ruined your clan's life. It was that easy.

Suddenly, the shouts transformed into a dull roar, and after a few moments stopped all together. Link lifted his head as he ceased in his pity-party, and noticed that Erla once again was the cause of the commotions end. This time however, she simply raised a calm hand that represented quiet, and left the other under her chin in pondering thought.

"You're telling me," the leader began, addressing Aveil but not looking at her, as Erla's eyes remained transfixed on some unknown spot on the table, "that the one thing we had over Daphnes, the _one thing_ that we'd been banking on since Link was given the trifoce of power, the _one thing_ that we could've used to take over Hyrule," she terrifyingly flicked her gaze up to look at Aveil, "has been compromised. That we have nothing now. That we have to prepare for war," it wasn't a question, so Aveil didn't bother to respond.

The rest of the council did, however. They all began offering suggestions in an uncouth manner, talking over one another and cutting each other off. Link had never seen the council behave so uncivilized. The things they said were all the same, worthless hopes, plans that always ended in an awkward trailing of words as they realized that what they were suggesting wouldn't work after all. Through all of this, Aveil just continued to look down at her lap, ashamed, and Erla just continued to burn holes into the poor Gerudo's head, daring the girl to show any emotion but shameful remorse.

Then, another sound cut through the voices of the others. This sound was out of place, inapplicable to the current crisis that had just arisen in the fortress, before even the sun. This was the sound of _laughter_.

Link tried to search the source out, bewilderment written across his cute features. The other Gerudo didn't take long to join him in his search, using their ears to try and find the very inappropriate culprit. For the dozenth time, the women stopped talking. All sound in the room ceased. Or, almost all sound.

A little ways away from the table, sitting on a lone stool on the back wall, legs up against a private desk, crossed at the ankles. Hands folded over her stomach, moving up and down quickly with the bursts of laughter that softly escaped the woman's lips as she leaned back in her chair, only supported by two of the four pegs. A woman sat. It appeared that she had gotten there late, and didn't feel it necessary to cause a scene by pulling up a chair. Possibly in one of the moments where everyone was quiet, she didn't want to disturb them. Now however, she was doing just that. Disturbing them more than anyone else had, more than any of the terrible stories they'd just been told.

"You think this is _funny_?" one of his sisters demanded of the woman, who couldn't stop smiling. Link moved his head slightly, trying to get a better look at who it was, only to let out a slightly exasperated huff when the woman opened her gorgeous, striking yellow eyes. He recognized her immediately, and he also recognized that he probably wouldn't like where this was going.

"Nabooru?" Erla asked, confusion, but not distrust, lacing her tone, "what's the meaning of this?"

Nabooru stopped chuckling at her leaders question, though she didn't stop smiling. She adjusted herself into a more formal position, placing all four legs of her chair on the floor as she brought her feet down from the small table in front of her. She lulled her head around to look Erla in the eyes.

"I just can't figure out what everyone's so _bunched_ _up_ about," she admitted honestly, shrugging her shoulders in a way that infuriated many of her sisters.

"The threat of _war_ is on our shoulders, and _you can't figure out what's wrong_?" Erla's voice was dropping to dangerous decimals. Link had a feeling that if anyone other than Nabooru had just done that, they wouldn't live to tell the tale.

"You all seriously think the Sheikah _who let Princess Zelda's attempted assassinater go in order to avoid war_, is going to tell the King of Hyrule the situation, and _start_ a war?"

Her words hit the other Gerudo like a ton of bricks.

Erla still didn't seem to accept this as an acceptable answer, "that doesn't solve the problem of the Princess knowing exactly what Link looks like, in addition to his name. We can no longer use him to sneak into the army and work his way up to having an opportunity to kill the King without _significant_ risk," she pointed out, still not letting the girl off the hook for behaving so rudely. Nabooru simply shook her head, her smile growing bigger.

"That's just it," she purred, "I don't see the problem,"

"Explain," Erla told the girl. She seemed to realize that, in the time where everyone else had been arguing, Nabooru had hatched a plan.

"Link formed a _friendship_ with this Princess Zelda in only a week," Nabooru turned to face her young King, making him feel a little queasy about her next words as she spoke directly to him, "whether that was the work of the triforce pieces, or just Link's personability, it doesn't matter. What matters is the _possibilities_," she said the final word with a devious smirk, to which Link tried to silently ask her what she was talking about.

"Go on," Erla pressed, referring to Nabooru's dramatic pause. Said Gerudo tore her gaze away from Link's, much to his annoyance as he realized that his silent message wasn't going to be conveyed.

"Don't you see?" she addressed the entire table now, who seemed to be hanging on her every word, "by getting close with the Princess, Link will be able to get closer to the King than he _ever_ would as a mere soldier," Erla smiled at her sister, a glint in her intense eyes while the woman continued, "Link may even seduce the Princess and gain Kingship the _legal_ way. _Then_ he can kill the King and his daughter, seizing the throne of Hyrule for himself, in name of the Gerudo!"

Her brief speech caused a cheer to erupt from the council of pirates, Erla's eyes sparkling with power as Link felt Aveil relax next to him. Despite everyone's cheers however, Link felt a sudden onslaught of panic.

"King of the Gerudo never suited you," Link didn't notice Nabooru approach him as she placed a confident hand on his shoulder, "King of Hyrule has always seemed _much_ more fitting," she said, still grinning as she ruffled the boy's dark blond hair.

King of Hyrule.

Link looked down at the mark on the back of his hand, staring at it intensely.

_Just like Ganondorf._

* * *

**And there you have it! Please review, favorite, follow, or do whatever. It makes me update faster ;)**

**Don't forget, this was the _last time_ Link and Zelda are kids! The time skip that occurs next chapter will be seven years, and there won't be another one after it.**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N Hello again everybody!**

**So yes, this is the chapter everyone has been waiting for! The *last* time skip, now everyone is all grown up and about the same age as they were in the actual Ocarina of Time game. After that time skip. Anyways.**

**It's eight years later (because I felt more comfortable writing about eighteen year olds rather than seventeen year olds)**

**I tried to have a better look out for grammar mistakes in this chapter, woopsie, hehe. I can only reread my own writing so many times before I start skimming, my bad guys! If you see anything that is just bugging you to no end, go ahead and tell me, I'll fix it! And I promise I didn't notice.**

**Also, I messed up with the whole Sheikah Shiekhan thing a few times, I'll go back and fix that by request (:**

**Also also, I'm afraid my updates will be slowing down a little since school is starting up again, but I'll still get chapters out regularly don't worry**

**On the bright side! This chapter is pretty important, so I hope you all enjoy!**

**I don't own LoZ**

* * *

Dusk was fast approaching over the smooth, untapped emptiness that was Hyrule Field. The sun gracefully made its way behind the great elevated plain that was Death Mountain, casting an orange blanket over the land. This envelopment included a small escort of pure white, freshly groomed horses that trekked onward despite the approaching twilight. These horses pulled behind them a beautiful, though not extravagant, wooden carriage. It was spacious, with elegant engravings of triangles and swirls: the emblem of the royal family. This escort included three royal guards, each wearing their respective white, blue, and silver uniforms. One sat at the front of the carriage, gilding the two horses to their intended destination all throughout the day. Another rode next to the carriage on a separate horse, a bow and arrow strapped to his back in addition to his standard sword. The third rested his eyes inside of the cart, sleeping soundly across from the precious cargo they were transporting.

Precious indeed.

An unbelievably gorgeous woman occupied the opposite side of the carriage. Its interior was a plush, velvety red which was extremely comfortable to rest on, and the guards took turns doing just that throughout the three day voyage. Sometimes however, the guards would sacrifice their rest for the beautiful lady's charming conversation. Her voice was like honey, and her words were dignified and wise beyond her years. She rarely spoke unless she had something important to say, so the guards would give up sleep to hear her melodic voice indeed.

She was a fairly small woman, as she was quite young. A mere eighteen years old, and already she was the talk of the kingdom. Her attire was comfortable, though still lavishly crafted in the finest silks and satins. Her hair hadn't been worth putting up as she was just going to be inside of a carriage all day, so her long, soft, shimmering light blonde locks tumbled down across her back and shoulders in waves. Her face looked like it had been sculpted out of clay with the utmost of care. Her dark blue eyes, though they appeared almost weary, held something in them that captivated even the most unwilling of people.

She was Hyrule's crown jewel. Its most beloved creature.

She was its Princess Zelda.

The young woman gazed boredly out of her window. They weren't even half way to Termina, the neighboring country that she was going to visit diplomatically to discuss trade regulations, and it had already been three days worth of travel. Soon, they would have to stop at a village, the horses would need prolonged break, as would all of the guards.

It was Zelda's first lone, formal diplomatic meeting with another country. She had thus far always been accompanied by her father, or a much larger band of Noblemen if she were to visit another country. However, due to her older age and agreeable demeanor, her father finally gave the OK for her to embark on a small, controlled trip without a mass amount of guards, nor other aristocrats who would do most of the talking for her. This was Zelda's first true test as future queen.

The sun had finally set over the peaceful landscape, taking with it the comfort of stalfos-free traveling, and bringing a whole new set of dangers. They couldn't simply stop in the middle of the woodsy trail they had been traveling on, as that would be far too risky. Though there wasn't another village for miles out. They would have the brave the night on foot, yet again.

However, on this night in particular, Zelda had a startlingly eerie feeling.

Though the sun had completely disappeared beneath the horizon, it almost seemed as though there was still an orange tint to the world, as if in perpetual sunset. The air too seemed to feel a tad more thick in the princess' throat, as if there was a certain quality to it that she hadn't experienced. With slight nervousness, Zelda slid to the other side of her couch-seat and poked her head out of the window on that side.

"Good sir," the Princess summoned, addressing the marksmen who flanked the coach's right. Said man turned to the sound of his majesty's voice immediately.

"Yes Princess?" He answered, acknowledging the woman as he steered his steed closer to the carriage.

"Have you noticed the rather large fire to the right of us?" She asked a little anxiously, motioning to the other side of them, "I'm afraid someone might be hurt."

"It was probably somebody's campfire that got a little out of hand," he dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand," we should be out of the forest before it really becomes a big deal, don't worry your highness."

Zelda bit her lip, but nodded, pulling her head back inside and resting it on the back of her seat. How could a man-made fire spiral out of control so quickly? It had only been dark for a few moments, the timing of the situation just didn't feel right. Something was wrong.

As if on cue, the coach lurched backwards roughly as something startled the horses, making them whinny loudly and cease in their movement for a moment. Zelda's heart almost leaped out of her throat at the change in velocity, and the slumbering guard in front of her sat up a little too quickly, muttering something under his breath that made Zelda assume he forgot she was in the cart with him.

"What's the problem?" Zelda asked loudly, rubbing the back of her head where it had slammed against her seat.

"Something spooked the horses," the carriage guild answered from the front of the vehicle, "Go check it out," the second part was uttered a little more quietly as he was addressing the marksmen beside them. Zelda heard him urge his horse forward with a click of his tongue, readying his bow in preparation for a wolfos or stalfos that could potentially be waiting in the bushes. The guard in the seat across from her shared a look with the princess.

"I should probably head out there too," he mentioned, excusing himself from her presence as he went to exit the carriage, "pardon me Princess, I'll only be a moment."

Zelda nodded at the man, waiting patiently for a time after the two of them had ventured out and away from the carriage. Once quite a few minutes had passed with the coach in its loitering state, she finally heard a voice.

"Something's wrong," the carriage guild mentioned, mostly to himself, though Zelda felt the premonition too.

"Have the two guards returned?" Zelda asked, feeling the hair rise up on the back of her neck as she clenched her hands together tightly.

"It's too dangerous here!" The man suddenly shouted, 'yah'ing his horses forward in a very brisk pace. This action took Zelda by surprise as she was thrown all around the carriage by the bouncy barrage of forestry. She dug her polished nails into the puffy upholstery, trying hard to steady herself as the horses cantered along.

"What's going on?!" She demanded once she had finally managed to press her body against the seat in a manner so that she wasn't flying about.

"The fire's spread over here!" The guard answered over the frantic whinny's of the horses. Zelda felt her heart lurch. She'd thought the crackling noises were the sounds of the wheels crunching the bramble. It didn't make any logical sense for the fire to have reached that part of the forest in only a few minutes! There was no wind, and it had to have been several acres away from them!

"Who are you?!" The guard's screech made Zelda pale as she knew instinctively that he wasn't talking to her. The horses let out collective nays, picking up their pace to one she didn't know was possible while attached to a buggy.

"What's going on?" Zelda asked, wishing desperately she could move from her position to look out window without the risk of losing control of her body once more.

There was no answer.

The princess was alone in an unguided carriage.

"Halt!" She shouted, addressing the horses. However, her yell failed to be heard over the worrisome noises of the forest, "halt!" she repeated, closing her eyes tightly as she was unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, the cart lurched violently, having hit a fallen log of some sort, and throwing the princess out of her relatively stabled position, and onto the other side of the seats. The carriage continued to topple erratically, turning from its upright position onto its side, all the while whipping Zelda around the upholstery. She heard the whinny's of the horses grow distant, and realized that they had broken free from the death trap they were carrying, leaving the Princess behind.

Feeling bruised but not broken, Zelda sat herself up as quickly as possible. She'd no idea where the fire was in accordance to the cart, and it was very possible that there were less than friendly monsters wondering about as well. She had to act.

The Princess looked down, realizing that she was sitting _on top _of the door, as well as one of the only two windows. she looked to her sides, the walls encasing her were sturdy, and blank, with no way to break through. She then brought her attention upwards to the other window.

Zelda stood up on unsteady legs, wrapping her arms around the outside of the window, as it was just a bit higher than she was tall. She then tried her best to hoist herself up, managing to lodge the sides of the window under her armpits and poke her head out by jumping. It was this way that she was able to take in the extent of her problem.

The fire surrounded her. It wasn't just coming from one direction but from _all_ directions. The horses were no where in sight, clearly they took off on the only presentable path before that too became enveloped in embers. The carriage's wheels and the overhang where the guard had sat were ripped apart and resting in a line where the cart had slid, sitting atop the long indent that the vehicle had made in the dirt.

Zelda kicked her feet out, managing to find foothold on one of the seats, and walked herself up while pushing upwards with her arms. Once she had fully gotten her top half out of the coach, she was hit with a wave of blackness. She began to choke on the air, her eyes unable to adjust in the thick smoke cloud. As she tried to wave away the smog, she lost her footing, and slid off of the top of the carriage, hitting the ground with an audible thump. Zelda silently thanked the goddess that she had, as at least the air was breathable down there.

Forcing her battered body to rise, the Princess was met with another cloud of smoke, though not as heavily as before. She attempted to cover her mouth with her hand, to offer at least some form of ventilation as she attempted to run in a direction that seemed to have the least amount of fire.

It was like a maze. Every time Zelda thought she had found a way out, another wall of embers would rise up into her path, and she would have to make multiple turns and convoluted twists. Her body was growing weak, her thoughts becoming as cloudy as the air she was struggling to breath around her. Finally, the young woman's body couldn't take it any longer. Her dress got snagged on a fallen log, tearing it and tripping the Princess, ultimately landing her onto the forest floor once more. This time, however, she simply did not have the strength to get up.

_A Few Hours Earlier_

The sound of the horn echoed urgently across the openness of Gerudo valley. A chestnut horse stirred in excitement and anticipation, as if knowing that this noise meant she was about to be let loose and into a hard run. She wasn't wrong. Though incidentally, the woman buzzing around the fortress seemed just as exuberant as the horse.

"It's time!" One of the woman shouted, as if it wasn't already obvious enough, as she tore into the stables in excitement, "Saria, Mido, you've got to go!"

The pair exchanged glances, before quickly completing the saddle jobs they had been working on. This was a tad bit sooner than expected.

"Do you think we have enough fire arrows?" The green haired beauty asked the extremely tall red-head, while she carefully packed loads of the sharpened items into the bags hanging off of the side of her horse.

"Plenty," Mido answered the girl, grinning maniacally.

Both of these young adults were very slim, though this may have been attributed to the lack of easy food available in the fortress. Saria had very little muscle build for a Gerudo, though she didn't do much heavy work anyways. Mido could simply be defined as tall and lanky, though one shouldn't allow his looks to fool, as he was rather gifted with a blade.

"Where's Link?" Saria asked as she slipped onto her horse, a little nervously. Mido fought the urge to groan, but couldn't suppress a roll of his eyes.

"Late as usual," He commented, mounting his equally as impressively tall horse. Saria's stallion began to prance in anticipation, almost as eager as Mido.

"He has to leave right after us! And he'll be gone for much longer," Saria frown, looking out at the Gerudo Women who seemed almost annoyed that the pair hadn't galloped off yet.

"Well we're just going to have to see him on the way then, aren't we?" Mido asked rhetorically, then 'yah'ed his horse onward and out of the stable. Saria sighed, kicking her own animal forward into a gallop.

The Gerudo cheered, raising their spears and weapons in recognition of the honorary members as they trotted down the center of the chaos and toward the gate. Saria took one last look around the fortress, catching sight of a familiar, sprinting blonde head making its way down the side of the mountain, a little hysterically. Saria grinned, leaning forward on her stallion in a request for him to pick up speed and catch up with Mido.

Meanwhile, said blond man rushed on his way down to the stables, toting a bag of essentials behind him as he hopped over the rocks and cracks in his path, one boot on, and the other being semi-pulled onto his foot while he ran. He would easily be able to make up any lost time with his lightning bolt of a horse, but it was the _consequences_ of being late that worried him.

When he reached the stables, he took the back entrance in an attempt to avoid the angry comments from his sisters, rushing over to his horse only to discover that she was already saddled.

"Late I see," a smooth, mocking voice cooed from behind him. He flinched a little, and turned around to see the leader of the Gerudo lounging against a stable door and eying him with a perked brow, "are we really surprised?"

The young man shot her a characteristic grin, then threw his nap sack atop the relatively, in comparison to the other Arabians that is, small horse, "I'm here now aren't I?" he offered, hoisting himself up onto his already saddled mare.

"I suppose," the woman sighed, then held another pouch out to the boy, "here," she offered, "you'll catch a cold."

He took hold of the animal-sinned bag and opened its contents, before his eyes lit up and he turned to the Gerudo, "Hey thanks Nabooru!"

"The weather isn't that cold, but it'll be a culture shock to you, so you'll feel chilly. The tunic will help with that. Also, the green will help you blend in," she explained taking the bag back from him as he attempted to put the tunic on over his sword and shield.

Link was particular. Most Gerudo pirates didn't bother with shields, as they only tended to weigh them down and create more steps before the inevitable: defeating the target. If a Gerudo wanted to dodge, she would jump out of the way. Instead of a shield, she used two swords, dealing twice the damage. However, Link seemed to appreciate this extra commodity. He still jumped and dodged, but he preferred to read how his opponent fought before actually engaging them in a battle, so a shield was necessary for this.

Though the young man wasn't as tall as Mido, he was _significantly_ more built. His chiseled, though still slightly young looking features gave him a strikingly handsome appearance, which he often used to his advantage. His smile was as bright as the sun, and his eyes as blue as the sky, and using these attributes, he'd learned he could practically get away with anything.

That, and being their king and all.

"Ya look great kid," Nabooru rolled her eyes as he brushed his shoulders cockily, and waited for him to tuck his puffy pant leg into his poorly-put-on brown leather boot. Once he had completed this activity, he flicked his eyes up to meet her gaze.

"Have any other gifts to shower me with?" he asked, waggling his brow.

"Just one more," Nabooru's unexpected response took Link by surprise as she started to walk behind his horse, Epona. Link followed a brow, but before he could turn to see what she was doing, he heard a painful sounding slap that was directed at his horse's rear. Link was immediately catapulted forwards with his horse, almost falling off the end as she let out a surprised whinny and galloped out of the stables with great speed.

"Remember who you're fighting for!" Link heard his leader call, as he attempted to adjust himself as to not fall off of his mare. He clenched his teeth and bit back the urge to call her a few nasty names.

The Gerudo who were waiting to send him off cheered even louder for him than they had Saria and Mido, despite his disheveled appearance and obvious attempts at calming down his horse. They even seemed to not take notice of his late timing!

He rode Epona through the Gerudo gates, over the broken bridge, and into the 'off limits' country of Hyrule. Once his poor horse had calmed herself, the ride became a little more slow and a lot more smooth. All in all, much more fun. Link's favorite pass time was sneaking off into Hyrule field, terrifying everyone in Gerudo fortress with his absence, and just riding Epona until he decided he'd put his sisters through enough worry.

He rode at this fast pace until he caught sight of two familiar riders a little in the distance, heading toward the same direction he was. He slowed Epona until she matched their pace exactly, tagging behind Saria and Mido by about an acre for the rest of the ride.

After about an hour, the two honorary Gerudo began to prepare their bow and arrows, lighting the tips aflame before firing them off onto trees and bushes. It didn't take them long to pinpoint exactly where their target was, and they started directing their arrows toward the royal carriage. This was Link's cue.

It took him a little longer than he expected to track down their prey, however. She was a squirmy little thing. After Saria and Mido had obliterated her guard, he'd expected her to be waiting helplessly in the broken carriage. Trapped, perhaps feinted in terror. However, when he inspected the broken cart, he'd found no princess.

None at all.

Upon brief inspection, brief because the fire was closing in on him, he'd noticed small, freshly made, heeled human shoe prints in the dirt. Link crouched on the ground, trying to follow the path that the girl took with his eyes before standing up straight once again.

He sighed, mounting Epona and using her to make a graceful jump over a flaming log, and attempted to follow the girls prints. He got lost several times, she made so many turns it almost seemed unnecessary, and was becoming very aware of the lack of oxygen getting to his brain in the cloud of smoke. Epona no doubt was feeling the effects as well, though she didn't question her friend's methods even once, despite the fact that he had just lead the horse into a fire, and refused to leave.

It took some serious navigation, but eventually, Link caught sight of a small purple mound of clothing and blonde hair, covered in soot and looking over-all pathetic.

_Hmph. I knew she would be passed out._ He thought to himself.

Despite this judgment, Link jumped off of his horse in excitement, unsheathing his sword as soon as his feet touched the ground. Epona whinnied, uncomfortable with the place that Link had left her in, but he held his hand out for her to wait as he set his sights on the collapsed girl, his hand clenching tightly around the sword's hilt.

He crouched down next to her, rolling her over and onto her back to assure himself that it was the girl he was looking for. He pressed his fingers to the side of her neck, feeling a slight pulse as evidence that she was alive. Despite the dirt and blood covering her features, he indeed made out the semi-familiar face from his childhood. He had found Zelda.

Grinning maniacally, he brought his sword inward, making a slicing motion without hesitation as he felt the steel rip through its intended target.

He then put his sword down and pulled the fabric of the skirt the rest of the way, damaging the already damaged dress a little more than necessary. After this, he ripped the purple strip of fabric in half, bringing it to his face and tying it behind his head, covering his mouth for ventilation purposes. He then took the other half of the fabric and did the same to the Princess, before sheathing his sword, hoisting her up, and roughly tossing her over his shoulder.

He made his way back over to the anxious horse, and flopped the Princess onto Epona's back, just behind the saddle. Link pulled himself up after this, grabbing hold of the horse's mane and ushering her onwards lightly. However, the ever-eager Epona took off quickly in clear want to exit the flaming forest. Link would have been fine with this, if he didn't hear a rather loud thump sound from behind them.

Groaning, the Gerudo Prince halted Epona once more, much to her exasperation. He then jogged back over to the fallen princess, who luckily hadn't woken up after that fall. He once again threw her over his shoulder, and then onto Epona. However this time, he placed the girl in front of him in an upright position, so that she would be more balanced when Epona no doubt had another quick start. Although, because of the Princess' multiple skirts, this position took a while to maneuver the limp body in. Not to mention, once she finally got both legs around the mare, her damn dress turned into a tent, puffing out at the sides and making it near impossible to reach over.

Growing impatient, Link drew his sword once more and hacked away the middle of the dress, allowing it to flow downward next to her legs on the side, but not obstructing her riding position. Honestly, the girl was wearing pants under it so he really didn't see the point of the skirts in the first place.

Realizing he didn't have any more time to waste, Link threw himself onto his horses back, balancing the woman between his arms as he grasped hold of Epona's white mane. The horse didn't bother waiting for a command, she simply took off as fast as she dared with the forest terrain, and worked on getting the two blond humans out safely.

As the duo worked to avoid flaming trees and the spreading fire, it became prevalent to Link that Saria and Mido had went a little crazy with the whole set everything ablaze thing. Honestly, they must've used a hundred arrows. He groaned angrily as another crisped tree fell in their way, making Epona rear in surprise and turn away from the now obstructed path. He tried another way, clicking Epona on into a dangerously fast gait, as he set his sights on a smaller wall of fire. They were running straight for it.

The horse, reading her rider's mind, didn't need to be told when the three came upon the flames to jump over them. She made an impressive landing a few feet away from it, gracefully switching back into a run with no difficulty.

They'd made it out of the circle of fire.

* * *

The world came back to her in bursts. The light pounded against her eyelids violently, making her squint and groan in annoyance. As she moved her head to try and obstruct her face, she realized how stiff and uncomfortable her body felt. The surface she had been sleeping on seemed as hard as rock. She brought her hands up to her face, rubbing it and moaning as a head ache slowly made its pounding way over her consciousness.

What in Din's name had happened last night?

Zelda's headache only seemed to increase as she tried to think back on what had happened. She was either wildly intoxicated last night, or she had a concussion. As memories slowly made their way back into her mind, Zelda realized it must have been the latter.

Recalling the last position she had been in, the young princess gasped, opening her eyes wide and sitting up a little too quickly for her liking.

"Ow," she murmured, her rubbing the top of her head with her hand.

"Oh hey," The words startled the Princess as she froze, "look who's up! Mornin' Sleeping Beauty," The voice was a little muffled, as if it was talking with its mouth full. Zelda's eyes fluttered upwards, adjusting to the light after only a few moments.

The sight before her made the Princess' mouth drop in surprise.

Sitting in the grass a few feet away, was a young man. He couldn't have been much older than her, dressed a little warmly for the weather. His face was stuffed full with a meat of some sort that was roasting on a small campfire he had built between them. A little ways behind the man, was a beautiful chestnut and white mare, grazing idly on the grass. The unknown man gave Zelda a meat-filled smile.

"Wh-what?" was all the Princess could manage as she looked all around her, not catching any sight of her guards, the carriage, or even the forest she had been traveling through.

"Rabbit?" The man offered, spitting some food out while he spoke as he removed the roasting meat from the fire and held it out to her.

"Who are you?" Zelda questioned, slightly repulsed as she slid away from the offer, "and where am I?"

"_Excuse_ me," The man finally swallowed, de-puffing his features as he set his food down at his side. In the dirt, "aren't you gonna thank me?"

Zelda couldn't form proper words once she got a good look at the man's face. It was oddly familiar and just as strangely . . . beautiful. His mannerisms were disgusting and his voice wasn't recognizable, but there was something about the man's face. Maybe it was his eyes?

"I-" she began, trying desperately to remember where she had seen the boy, "you-"

"I'm waiting," he pointed out with a dimpled grin, standing up from his position to approach the girl. Zelda pushed herself back a little in nervousness, though still couldn't speak, "not even a kiss for your knight in shining armor?" He joked, tapping his cheek while making a kissy face.

Zelda stood up immediately as the full weight of the situation kicked in. She had no idea who this man was! Or what he was capable of. She'd noticed he had a sword and shield leaning against a tree a little ways away from the campsite, and now that he was closer she could see that beneath his tunic, he had silver chainmail protecting him. He also certainly wasn't built like a pushover. This man was potentially dangerous.

"Who are you?" Zelda repeated angrily, preparing to make a run for the horse if necessary, "why did you bring me here?" She demanded, crossing her arms defensively. The man simply rolled his eyes.

"Seriously Zel it was a joke," he muttered, making her breath quicken nervously, "and what do you mean 'why'd I bring you here?' Would you have _preferred_ I left you to burn in that fire?" He placed his hands to his side snarkily.

"How do you know my name?" she breathed inspecting the man's features deeply as she tried to search through her memory banks.

"Huh?" The man looked at her like she was crazy.

"My name," Zelda repeated, "you just called me 'Zel'"

"I did?"

"Yes!"

"You're sure?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Zelda shouted, bunching her hands into fists at her sides, "you just called me a _nickname_ for Faroe's sake! Where do I know you from?"

"Dunno," the man shrugged inconspicuously, looking over to the side as if feigning innocence. Zelda couldn't believe what was happening. She had just almost _died_ and this man was _toying_ with her.

She didn't bother to speak another word, instead she walked over to the grazing animal, who seemed completely indifferent to her presence. She ran a gloved hand over the horse briefly, before grasping hold of the animals saddle

"What're you doing?" the man asked, though she ignored him as she yanked herself up with her aching muscles, placing her feet in each foothold, "you aren't going to try to run away are you?" he asked another question, to which Zelda decided to respond to.

"I'm going back to the source of the fire to see if I can find my Guard, _then_ I'm going back home to Castle Town," she told him, grasping hold of the animals mane as he raised a brow at the Princess, "I appreciate your alleged 'rescuing' of me from the fire, but I can take it from here."

"So you're going to steal my horse?" he didn't sound angry, more _amused_ as he smiled at the girl.

"Borrow," she corrected, "come to the castle and request me by name, as I'm sure you _know_ my name, and I will have your mare returned to you," she finished as dignifiedly as she possibly could, "I bid thee adieu,"

With that, the princess clicked her tongue and kicked at the horse with her heels, instructing it forwards. However, the stubborn animal appeared not to take notice, as it didn't even flinch from its grazing. The Princess blinked in confusion, kicking her heels inwards one more time. The horse whinnied in annoyance, but still made no movement.

"Problem?" the man asked.

"Make it move!" Zelda demanded of the man, infuriated with his constant belittling.

"And leave me stranded?" He actually started to chuckle, "sheesh you really are a brat," he waved his hand in dismissal, before walking back over to the campfire and picking his food off the ground once more, shoving it in his mouth repugnantly.

The princess was about to respond with the same amount of rage she had exhibited earlier, before she seemed to recall something. She slowly let go of the horse as she took in a quick breath.

"_Even if you are a spoiled brat"_

"_It was a joke Zel, cool it"_

"_I'll call you 'Zel', you call me 'Duh'"_

"Link?" The princess asked, sliding off of the horse in curiosity as she took a few steps forwards.

"What is it now?" the young man asked rhetorically, not bothering to take notice of the fact that she used his real name.

"You're . . . Link aren't you?"

"Wow," he rolled his eyes as he turned the rabbit meat over the fire, "the triforce of wisdom picked a _great_ host," he garbed sarcastically

"Why did you save me?" She ignored his comment. Zelda wasn't sure if knowing the identity of the boy made her feel more secure, or more endangered, "the last time I saw you, you tried to-"

"_I _didn't try to do anything," Link turned to glare at her slightly, "I was _ten_. I had no part in the actions of that Gerudo."

"You," Zelda swallowed, feeling very uncomfortable under his glare, "you're their _King_," she managed to summon back some dignity as she continued to speak in an authoritative voice, "what are you doing in Hyrule field?"

"You're kidding right?" Link grinned at the Princess, and she tried her best to keep her temper under wraps, "you really thought I was the _ruler_ of those _savages?_" Zelda blinked back her surprise, "first off, I'm not even really Gerudo, in case you couldn't tell," he gestured to himself, "not to mention the fact that I'm a guy. Again, in case you couldn't tell," he gestured more crudely, which made Zelda wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"You were traveling with a Gerudo that you called _sister_," Zelda pointed out, digging at the slightly repressed memory, "she called you their King,"

"It was the only way she could make sure we weren't captured. If she gave me to that d- . . . Sheikah of yours, what would have stopped him from killing her where she stood?" Link told her, turning back to the fire as he twisted the meat once more.

"Why are you in Hyrule?" Zelda repeated, not looking for any more excuses.

"I haven't lived with the Gerudo since I was fourteen," Link answered, "where would you have me go?"

"You're an illegal citizen then," Zelda explained, not quite feeling comfortable around him despite his explanation, "you haven't been able to find real work without papers have you?"

"Nope," Link muttered, "I can't stay in villages for long either because people get suspicious. I was living in that forest for a while before it burned down," he pulled something out of his pocket and turned back around to give it to Zelda, "sorry about your dress by the way," he said as he held the strip of fabric out to her.

Zelda took it back slowly, realizing it was the fabric of her skirts, before looking down and gasping in shock. Her dress was completely ripped to shreds! You could see her entire pantalettes!

"What did you do?!" She demanded, moving the strips of fabric hanging off of her hips around in an attempt to cover her under garments. Link just eyed her strangely.

"You're . . . wearing pants," he pointed out. Zelda glared.

"These aren't _pants!_ they're pantalettes! Women wear them _under_ dresses!"

"I'm still hearing the word pants," Link responded boredly, before smiling at the flustered Princess, "and besides, if nothing else, at least I get to tell people I saw Hyrule's Princess in her underwear."

"You'll tell _no one_ _anything_," Zelda hissed, giving up on trying to somehow manipulate the pathetic amount of fabric into a new dress. She couldn't decide if it would be better to just rip it off altogether, or leave the scraps.

"Again, I was kidding," Link gave the Princess a once over, "you really need to lighten up.

"No, what I _need_ to do," Zelda began, ripping the last shreds of her dress off in a moment of rage, "is get back _home_. No doubt my guard is worried sick. Which way was the forest?" Zelda asked him, deciding to simply walk there rather than deal with the man another moment.

Link snorted, "what forest? Didn't you hear me? The whole thing burned down last night," Zelda stopped ripping the fabric.

"_What?_" She questioned, feeling an onslaught of panic

"Anyone who was in there is either dead, or long gone by now," Link mentioned, standing up and brushing off his pants, "that includes your precious guard."

Zelda was taken aback. Should she still go back and try to look for them? Or was Link right? After all, they would have a much better chance of surviving on their own than she would.

"Well, it's been a blast talking to you Princess," Link gibed sarcastically, removing his food before pouring a bottle of water over the fire, and then stepping on the cinders to assure it was fully out, "but I've got to head out. New homes to find and such, see ya later," he said as he walked past the girl, heading over to his grazing mare. Said horse excitedly neighed when he approached, reacting in an opposite way than she had to Zelda. That being, reacting.

Zelda placed her hands on her hips. He was bluffing, she could tell. His voice was sing song and his walk was too bouncy. There was no way he would leave her stranded in the middle of Hyrule, with no sense of direction, or supplies.

"You're kidding, right?" Zelda said, sarcasm lacing her tone as she refused to buy into his childish behavior _again_.

"Why would I be kidding?" Link questioned innocently, tilting his head to the side. Zelda simply stared. The man shrugged, hopping up onto his horse who began to prance in place excitedly.

"You're really leaving," Zelda stated simply.

"I'm really leaving," Link confirmed, readying himself on the horse.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then _why_ haven't you moved yet," Zelda asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh right," Link grinned sheepishly, then flicked his heels slightly into his horse's side. The mare snorted, then began to walk in a relatively slow gait, which Link slowed further by leaning back on the horse. Zelda sighed.

"Goodbye Princess!" Link shouted, unnecessarily loudly considering his only slight distance from the girl.

She still said nothing.

"I'm really leaving!" Link yelled again. Zelda started to pick dirt out from under her nails. He looked back at her, then added, "leaving in the direction of Hyrule Castle!"

It suddenly struck Zelda, what Link wanted.

"I can get you citizenship," She called to the boy, who immediately turned his horse around to trot back over to her.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Link asked, cupping a hand next to his ear in Zelda's direction. The princess looked the man in his beautiful eyes, and repeated her previous statement.

"I will get you citizenship, _if_ you return me back to Hyrule Castle in one piece," Zelda told the young man, who lit up in excitement.

"Really?! That's great!" He exclaimed, holding a hand out for the Princess to take. She couldn't help but give Link a small smile, he really was quite childish. She took hold of his calloused, dirty hand, surprised at how quickly he hoisted the girl up and atop his horse. She took a moment to scramble herself onto the horse properly, then grasped hold of the edge of the saddle tightly.

"We're about a three day's ride from Hyrule Castle with few breaks," Zelda mentioned to him as she settled in, "that is, if you didn't bring us that far away from the forest already," the Princess ran a hand through her golden hair, using the fabric Link had given her earlier to tie it back into a ponytail, "and remember, this is strictly a business relationship. Just get me home as soon as possible, and you will be rewarded with what you seek. We will speak only when necessary, because frankly, you bother me, and there will be no-"

"Three days? You insult us!" Link cut her off, acting scandalized as he pet his horse's neck, ignoring the rest of her words, "we can do it in two!"

Zelda didn't get a chance to respond to him, as he clicked his tongue and sent his horse into a frighteningly fast gallop. Zelda almost fell off the back of the mare, grasping desperately for the back of Links tunic as her fingers continuously lost grip because of his _stupid_ chainmail. Finally, the princess gave up, grabbing each of Link's broad shoulders as she leaned forward, pressing herself against his back reluctantly.

Business indeed.

* * *

**And so it begins! Less dialog, more action. Feel free to review or pm me with your thoughts, or follow or fav or whatever! It really does make me update faster I wish I was kidding.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N Hello Again all!**

**I'm really sorry this chapter took so long to get out. School is rough, yadda yadda, hopefully this won't become a pattern. I'm thinking I should get the chapter out to ya'll by next month, I hope you like it.**

**Thank you for waiting so patiently!1! **

**I don't own LoZ**

* * *

The unlikely pair rode on like that for a surprisingly long time. The horse seemed to not notice the extra weight as it galloped through the clean grassy plains that were Hyrule Field. Link had a destination in mind already: one far enough from both Gerudo and Hylians alike. Zelda however, appeared mildly enraged with him as she dug her dainty fingers unnecessarily hard into his sides, though refused to comment on his obvious exploitation of her comfort zone. He had to cut it to the princess, she was pretty fun to piss off.

Eventually, the threesome hit a fence covered groove, one that blocked off an otherwise open trail to more land. The sun had already begun to set, just as Link had predicted, and he had made it to his desired campsite with a perfect amount of time to spare. He increased Epona's gait with a kick of his legs, and the horse instantly bolted forwards unabashedly into the tall fencing. He felt Zelda's death grip become even tighter as Epona rose into the air, scaling the blockade almost majestically.

They continued on for only a few moments more before Link had to disguise his complete and utter shock at the sight they stumbled upon.

He'd passed Lake Hylia multiple times, he'd almost even stopped and approached it a few, but decided against it just in case he saw any freaky mythical Fish-People. However, he'd never actually _seen_ the body of water that was Lake Hylia. It was ginormous! The water seemed to extend on forever, painted a pretty color under the orangy-yellow sunset. Besides this, the liquid was essentially clear, and one could see straight through to the bottom of the lake. The shores were virtually untapped, which possibly had something to do with the fencing, and the only noticeable population was a lone cottage all the way across the lake, whose windows were lit and that had smoke coming from its chimney.

He slowed his horse down in amazement, jumping off of the animal in order to approach the Lake's surface. Immediately, he filled his couple of empty bottles up to the brim, shocked that there weren't more people out here doing just that.

He was torn from his trance as he heard a thump from behind him, and turned to see the Princess ungracefully slide off of his mare. He was supposed to help her with that wasn't he? A small smile quirked at the edges of his mouth and he shrugged a little to himself. Oh well.

"Is this where we're camping out tonight?" Zelda asked him, trying her best to play off her landing.

"Sure is," he replied, slipping his bottles back into his pouch as he made his way over to his horse and began to remove his sparse supplies, "you wouldn't happen to know how to fish would you?"

"I could figure it out," she replied noncommittally.

"So no?" Link inferred.

"I read a woodsman book once that described it," she responded haughtily, "if we just had a fishing rod I could certainly make it work."

"If we had a fishing rod _Epona_ could make it work," Link rolled his eyes, "forget it I'll figure something out," he waved her off, walking a little ways away to the tree line to see if he would find any particularly attractive looking sticks

The princess didn't bother to respond to him, instead she clenched her hands and teeth, looking away from him with a clenched expression as she clenched her emotions.

Link thought that was the perfect describing-word for the princess. Clenched.

He shook his head in slight amusement, selecting a long branch that had been shed from the canopy of trees, and returned back to his companion's side. There he fished a knife out from his pouch and began to sharpen the stick into a spear. With slight appreciation at his own resourcefulness, the Gerudo made his way over to the waters edge, standing on a flat rock that protruded slightly outwards, more deeply into the lake. Here, Link crouched, spear grasped firmly in his hand as he waited.

After quite a few moments past, long enough for the sun to almost completely submerge behind Death Mountain, movement beneath the water caught the young man's attention. Hunger caused excitement as he clutched his spear tightly, his eyes wide as he waited for his unsuspecting prey to swim closer, and closer, until it was in the ideal position.

He plunged his spear downwards, water splashing back into his face in a wave and soaking his upper body. He cursed, shaking his head and spraying droplets everywhere as he tried to peer through the ripples he'd created in an attempt to see if he had caught himself a meal. Link cursed louder when he realized he hadn't.

"How dignified," Zelda said dryly, making Link's face drop as he yanked his spear out from the bottom of the lake, "You're right, the horse _could_ do better." Though her tone was cold, the Princess held mirth in her eyes.

"_The horse could do better_," Link echoed in a high pitched imitation of her voice, "how about _you_ do something useful?" He hissed, composing himself as he positioned his body into a striking stance over the water once more.

He heard her sigh in response, and then some movement and scuffling going on behind him, but didn't bother to turn and look. He was going to catch a damn fish if it killed him.

_A Few Hours Later_

"This is _killing_ me!" Link shouted in annoyance as he plunged his freezing hand angrily into the water to grab after his makeshift spear, which was now floating away. By this time, the moon was high in the sky, illuminating the otherwise tranquil lake with a thousand shimmering lights as the stars reflected on its surface.

"Then give up," Zelda offered, sounding tired. After all, there was no way she was getting any sleep with his constant groans and yells. Link tried to create a current towards him so that his stick would float back by paddling with his arms.

The fire Zelda had made a few hours earlier after Link had snapped at her was crackling invitingly, causing orange to dance across the Princess' silhouette as she was curled up next to it, clinging to a blanket she had found on Epona's saddle.

"Are you kidding?" Link growled, partly to the Princess and partly to the fact that he no longer had a weapon.

"No," Zelda sighed, sitting up to look at him with concern in her eyes, "Hylians can survive weeks without food, but only eleven days without sleep. You're better off just getting some rest," Link fought back the urge to groan exasperatedly. He knew she was right.

Defeated, the Gerudo slinked over to the fire, and plopped himself down next to it. His tunic was already drying on a rock beside him, though it was still damp and it wasn't a wise decision to put it back on just yet. He sighed as he removed his undershirt, which was also soaked, and placed it next to his tunic to dry as well.

"Here," Zelda said, holding out the blanket she had been using, almost immediately after Link removed his shirt. Her face was a weird reddish color as she looked away from him. It was probably the torch light.

"You're sure?" He asked her, to which she nodded quickly, still looking away, and Link then grabbed the blanket eagerly.

"Thanks dollface!"

"Don't call me that," Zelda stated emotionlessly as she huddled herself next to the fire once more. He grinned, wrapping the blanket around him as he did the same, trying to suppress his injured pride and growling stomach with the gratefulness of warmth.

He could always try again in the morning.

* * *

A familiar splashing sound stirred an overtired Zelda from her light slumber. She groaned, pulling her body tighter into a ball as she attempted to ignore it. Another sound caused her eyebrows to furrow in frustration. She could tell it wasn't morning by the lack of light pounding against her eyelids. The only source of brightness came from the fire.

"Link, go to bed," she murmured in a quiet voice, almost inaudibly. The splashing sounds stopped, much to her relief. Her face slowly loosened as her mind started to wander, and the blissful wave of unconsciousness began to once again sweep her away.

Yet it was not to be.

Something wet and slimy slapped tightly across the Princess' mouth, draining any ounce of fatigue from her form as fear took its place. Her eyes shot open, hands grabbing for whatever was blocking her voice and forcing only muffled noises to struggle their way out. Her wrists were quickly detained, and tied behind her back before she had time to even react.

She thrashed her body stubbornly, refusing to give under her captors obviously superior strength. However, as quickly as her hands were tied, so were her feet. She glanced around desperately, trying to find some way, _any_ way out of her present situation. By the light of the fire, she could see multiple figures moving around her, represented by shadowy, human-like forms with indistinguishable features. They moved all around the campsite with great swiftness, though Zelda struggled to see what they were doing.

She continued attempting to shout and squirm, clearly posing more of a difficult hostage than her captor was expecting as they continued to detain her. She managed to catch sight of a mound of blankets she assumed was Link, who somehow had not awoken despite the racket she was trying to create. Terror overtook her further when the pillagers began to prod at his form, ripping away the blanket that covered him. Unfortunately, her view of what was happening was hidden when the kidnappers pulled something over her eyes.

She thrashed harder, screamed louder, tried as hard as she possibly could to free herself from their grasp. Something strangely scented pressed against her nose tightly, serving no ventilation as she struggled to breath through the strongly-smelling cloth.

After only a few more moments, the blissful wave of unconsciousness began to once again sweep her away.

* * *

"_Zelda,"_

A distorted whisper sounded off in the distance, urging the Princess to open her tired eyes.

"_Zelda_," It repeated. A little closer this time.

"_Zelda!_"

The princess sucked in a rapid breath as she sat up a little too quickly, remembering her present situation with a terrible feeling. Her eyes darted around her surroundings, taking a moment to adjust to the presence of light.

The sound of rushing water immediately tricked Zelda into believing she was still resting by Lake Hylia, though her eyes quickly dispelled this theory. All around her was carefully smoothed wood and peculiar curved tree roots. She noted that she was likely inside of a cell, with the roots acting as doors. She also realized that her hands and feet were bound, quite uncomfortably, by what she assumed was rope. Her torn, dirty clothing appeared even more tattered, and she could only wonder just how pitiful the Great Princess of Hyrule looked in this state. Although on a lighter note, the smell of her jail was fresh and clean, like a perpetually flowing riverbank.

"Rough night, huh?"

The voice surprised her, causing her to glance upwards and across her curved-root cell doors into another cell directly across from hers. She let out a sigh of relief at the half-naked, partly smiling, blond form of Link.

"Indeed," she told him, looking down at the strange ground to avoid gawking at his well-toned body. It wasn't proper.

"You didn't happen to have any weapons concealed on you, did you?" Link asked her, to which the Princess shook her head dejectedly. Link let out a huff of annoyance.

"As soon as I find a way out of here I'm setting this whole shit-box on fire," he muttered, flopping onto his back and hitting the solid, ringlette-decorated floor. Zelda furrowed her brow.

"I don't believe that would be effective," she told him as she strained to hear what sounded like a waterfall.

"Whataya mean?" Link asked, "this whole prison is made of wood. _Wood_. As in _firewood_." he rolled his eyes to himself, "damn that Triforce really knows how to pick 'em."

"Yes I can see that," she flicked her eyes up to glare at him for a moment, "but it's not _all_ wood. If I'm right, and I usually am," Link scoffed at her, "this entire complex is just a micro-lake located inside of one giant tree."

"What?" he questioned disbelievingly, sitting up in order to shoot the Princess with a look of confusion.

"Yes that makes sense!" Zelda's eyes widened at her realization, "I've never been personally, but I've seen paintings and had it described to me in many a book. We're in-"

"-Zoras Domain," a cool, unfamiliar voice finished for her, making the pair jump and turn their heads toward it quickly, "how unfortunate for you."

The figure that just spoke was not Hylian. A tall, strong, human-like creature, covered head to toe in silver and blue scales, approached the two prison cells with a graceful demeanor. He differed physically from Hylians with the additions of long, fin-like structures extending off of his arms, which were colored in a beautiful mesh of blues and greys that gave off the appearance of waves. More of these elegant fins also came off of his back, swaying slightly as he walked. The back of his head stretched into a tail-like flipper, and his feet were large and webbed. His dark eyes were void of all emotion as he regarded the disgruntled pair, his gaze flicking between the two respectively. Zelda was taken aback by the creatures unexplainable beauty.

"Hey fish-guy!" Zelda winced, "let us out! Unless you want things to _really _get unfortunate!" Link demanded, yanking at his binds in an attempt to free himself. The Zora twitched slightly, but ultimately remained calm.

"I would behave more civilized if I was in your situation," the Zora told him, "your freedom is in _our_ hands after all," his monotone voice remained icy as he spoke. Link scowled darkly, meeting the Zoras gaze with a menacing glare.

"Please," Zelda began in an attempt to quell any hostility, "If my friend and I have done anything to offend you or your people, I deeply apologize, but you cannot hold us here. We haven't done anything wrong," She tried, hoping to Nayru Link would keep his mouth shut, "please, tell us what we did and we will do our best to correct it."

"We didn't _do_ anything! Your stupid cronies jumped us for no reason!"

"Quite the suspicious pair you two are," the Zora answered ominously, capturing Zelda's attention at least, though only appearing to infuriate Link further, "arriving undocumented in Zora territory on the _same_ _night_ that our most precious possession goes missing," He turned his back to Zelda in order to set his void eyes upon Link, "Quite suspicious indeed."

"Like _Din_ we'd want _shit_ from you!" Link yelled, "this is bull, let us go!"

"I implore you to stop shouting," The Zora requested in a way that sounded like a demand, clearly annoyed with Link's temper.

"_Implore to my di_-"

"I've never known Zora's to treat travelers so hostility," Zelda told him quickly, planning her words as she frantically tried shoot Link a look that told him to _shut up_, "we were just passing through Lake Hylia for the night, no where near Zora territory."

"Wrong again miss," the Zora corrected. Zelda was earnestly confused at this point, "that part of the Lake is commonly established as Zora land. There is even fencing to keep Hylians out. That infraction alone is enough to put you on trial."

"Lake Hylia belongs to no _one_ race," Zelda stated factually. For some reason, this statement seemed to bring out the first emotion they saw from the Zora: bewilderment.

"On the contrary," the man told her slowly, "half of the Lake belongs to the Hylians. The only wish we had was for the other half to remain untainted, and welcome to any race _but_."

Zelda and Link exchanged inquisitive glances.

"Would you believe us if we said we were unaware of this?" Zelda tested.

"No," he replied simply, making the Princess sigh dejectedly. He noticed this, and continued immediately, "but it's not really my place to say. Your council with the King starts in a few moments, the guards will be by to escort you soon.

"So why are _you_ here?" Link hissed. The Zora approached his cell, towering over the seated Link for a moment before crouching to eye level. Zelda's heart raced violently as they locked gazes, although Link did not appear to buckle under the pressure.

"I wanted to look in the eyes of the wretched kidnappers of our beloved Princess Ruto," Link didn't move, he didn't even blink. Zelda, on the other hand was taken aback, though she held her tongue in fear that her denial would seem suspicious.

"We _aren't_ kidnappers," Link told the man forcefully, though still neither of them moved.

After a few long, painful moments, the sound of footsteps became present toward the entrance of the cell-room. The Zora stood up straight once more, breaking his staring contest with Link as the Zora guards came to collect the prisoners.

"Or so it seems," he said quietly, causing Zelda and Link to exchange confused looks once more.

Zelda lost sight of the strange Zora man that spoke to them initially as three new Zoras, carrying spears and wearing helmets, crowded around her door. She fought to remain calm with the present situation, nodding respectfully to the gentlemen.

"Put this on," one of the Zoras told her, holding a clean blue tunic and new black boots out to the Princess for her to take, "you should look presentable in front of the Zora King," Zelda smiled with a quivering lip despite the backhanded gifts, as one of the guards worked to untie her while the other two stood in front of the door.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled the baggy tunic over her ripped dress shirt, and then stepped into the slightly too-large boots, tucking her pantalette legs into the top. Once she was done with this, the Zora guard took hold of both of her wrists and tied them together in front of her body. Zelda allowed him to do this with no resistance. They were not guilty of anything, so she would act as such.

"Hey! Watch the goods, fish fingers," Zelda twitched involuntarily. It was a surprise that Link's voice didn't automatically give her a migraine at this point.

As she stepped out of the cell, the guards flanked either side of her, while one took to the front to lead the way. Link took a little more prompting than Zelda had, but eventually they managed to coax him out as well.

The outside of the cell-room was when Zora's Domain was truly visible. A magnificent, pristine blue lake covered the entire center of the domain, with a spiralling ramp that continued up onto different floors where the tree trunk had hollowed out, making solid land. Towards the top of this ramp, a thundering waterfall perpetually fell, creating the noise that Zelda had heard earlier. Some of the spiralling-roots acted as walls in other sections of the village, adding an even more elegant feel to the establishment. Many other Zora civilians lived in this complex, and most were doing activities in and out of the water before noticing the prisoners, and stopping to watch them ascend to the throne room.

Zelda and her guards were first, Link following closely behind. She wished greatly that the two of them would have had time to speak before they saw the king. Link's track record under questioning so far wasn't the best. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when they reached the throne room. Link and his guards had enough room to walk adjacently to her now, and Zelda took this opportunity to attempt eye contact with her unfortunate companion.

It appeared that the Zoras had given him back his tunic, which was something, if only to make Zelda more comfortable. He was also glancing at the Princess out of the corner of his eye, a slight scowl adorning his features. Zelda made it clear that she was looking at him when she mouthed the words: '_Don't. Say. Anything'_

Link rolled his eyes away from her, and his scowl increased in depth, but he didn't respond.

The inside of King Zora's throne room was a shallow pool of water, surrounded by the top of the tree trunk. Carved from wood were steps that lead to nowhere, just a small pedestal above the water. Zelda swallowed as her and Link were ushered upwards, with the guards staying at the base to watch them. Once the two blonde Hylians mounted the steps fully, they came face to face with their judge.

King Zora looked nothing like his subjects. Instead of being built strongly, majestically, he was built more like a very large oval. He was the only one of the Zoras wearing a finely-sewn red and gold cape, as well as a golden crown with a singular, large red jem adorning the top. His legs and arms were disproportionately small compared to the rest of his body, and his throne appeared to be the very spot where water flowed into his domain, coming from a large ebony fence behind him. His seat also happened to be the only thing made out of stone in the entire place, according to Zelda's limited observations.

Zelda immediately bowed respectfully, elbowing Link slightly in suggestion for him to do the same. The hylian let out an audible sigh, but reluctantly followed Zelda's lead.

"Rise," the large Zora told them, his small mouth releasing a deep, smooth voice. Zelda did as instructed, lifting her head to once again establish eye contact with the King.

"Your majesty-" she began cautiously, only to trail off quietly when the King Zora raised his oddly small hand. Link couldn't hide his annoyance at the girls obedience.

"Your charges are very severe," the king began, his expression unreadable, "not only were you confirmed to be on the Zora side of lake Hylia, but you are also suspected kidnappers of my beloved daughter Princess Ruto," his eyes almost appeared to water, but he quickly covered his emotions once more to continue, "as it stands, your guilt has been predetermined. Either you give me back my child, or face the consequences!"

"Where would we hide a _one ton_ Zora? In our back Pockets?" Link demanded, flabbergasted. Zelda felt that way as well, they weren't even going to get a fair trial?!

"Enough!" The Zora king shouted, clearly offended by Link's brute words. Didn't Zelda tell him not to speak? "If you refuse to comply to my pure, humble request, I have no choice but to sentence you to death by drowning!"

Zelda gasped, shaking her head wildly, "you don't understand!" she tried, only wishing he would give her room to speak.

"I understand plenty!" He finalized. The guards looked at one another with confusion, as if not fully agreeing with their king either, but they ultimately began to ascend the steps toward their prisoners, fully intending to honor their king's wishes.

"You can't kill us! You don't know who you're dealing with," Link tried, yanking his arm away from a guard that attempted to grab him. Sensing where he was going with this, Zelda took a step toward him as he began to shout, "this is Pri-mphm!"

"This is all a misunderstanding," Zelda tried, her hands clamped firmly over Link's mouth, despite how uncomfortable the position proved to be with her hands being tied together. Link regarded her with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

"I've heard enough, take them out of my sight!" the King turned his massive, round head slightly away from them, as if they were too disgusting to even look at. Zelda didn't know how to respond, she just kept trying to pull away from the grasp of the regretful guards, looking around desperately for anything she could do to get out of the situation. Link was enraged, taking his body away from his captors in a much more successful fashion, though they had now backed him into the corner of the pedestal.

"Stop!"

A new voice rang clear and high, making the guards pause long enough for Zelda to free herself and join Link's side.

"Altus?"

Everyone in the room turned to face the new speaker. Zelda's eyes widened as she recognized who it was immediately: the Zora that had come to talk to them after she and Link had woken up.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Zora king demanded, his gaze hard.

"Excuse the intrusion, my King," the Zora, apparently going by the name of Altus, dropped to one knee respectively, before lifting his head to look his ruler in the eye, "but I cannot stand for this blatant injustice."

"I don't understand," The king shook his ovalesque head in confusion, "these are the wretches who took my beloved daughter, our beloved Ruto!"

"I know you would like believe this, for that way there is clear resolution, but I'm afraid this is not the case," Altus rose from his knee and began to approach the center of the room, "I know these Hylians are innocent."

"How?" The King, surprisingly, did not seem mad at Altus' for questioning his judgment. He was honestly captivated.

"First off, what kind of righteous idiot would stick around the scene of the crime after committing such an atrocity," Altus began, before looking directly at Link and adding, "well, it is entirely possible that these are that kind of idiot, so this is not an argument in their favor."

"Hey, Fish-Boy! Whose side are you on?!" Link demanded, but didn't say more when the King's frog-like eyes flicked toward him menacingly.

"As I was saying," Altus continued, "even if they _were_ this breed of idiot, they would indefinitely not have been able to conceal Princess Ruto in that short amount of time, we searched all around . . . lifeless or not, the Princess wasn't there" the last part of Altus' sentence seemed to physically pain everyone in the room, save for Link and Zelda.

"What would you have me do then?" The Zora King asked in a quiet voice. Zelda's mouth dropped. Not only had this man allowed one of his subjects to dispel his final ruling without any reprimandation, but now he was asking that man for _advice?!_ What kind of Monarchy was this!

"Well, due to the strong evidence in their favor towards _not_ have kidnapping the Princess, I would advise you to drop that charge," Altus said slowly. The King cleared his throat.

"So it goes," he said with a nod toward his guards, who gratefully backed away from Zelda and Link. Relaxing slightly, the Princess took a step away from Link herself, no longer comforted by his closeness.

"However," Altus began suddenly, causing Zelda to raise a brow at the man in confusion, "they _were_ in Zora territory past curfew, without any form of documentation, and are obviously Hylian," he added, addressing the King directly. The guards ceased in their retreat, facing the disgruntled Hylians once again. Zelda felt herself involuntarily press her shoulder against Link's in nervousness.

"So what should their punishment be?" The obviously emotionally damaged King asked Altus, who, in response, turned toward Link and Zelda with a frightfully cold smile.

"Community service."

* * *

"This is where the Princess was supposed to have been one the night of her disappearance," Altus told them, moving to the side in order to let the pair see better, "you may be able to find clues around here, it's our best lead . . . aside from you two."

"It's gorgeous!" Zelda exclaimed, eyes sparkling as she took in the sights. Behind Zora's domain was another great expanse of water. This one seemed to continue on forever, extending beyond two massive mountains into unknown territory. It was virtually untouched, save for one particular stone worship place. It was only a square of land with four pillars extending out of each corner, and fenced in to the right and the left, though not the front. It also had stars leading up to it from the back, and that was where the duo and their escort of two Zora, one of whom was Altus, were headed.

"I'm really getting sick of this whole 'water everywhere' thing," Link complained as he waded through the shallows, soaking his boots and paint legs rather uncomfortably. Zelda did feel a pang of sympathy for him for a moment.

"Maybe you should have accepted the waterproof boots, hmm?" She teased, gesturing to her own feet. Link wrinkled his nose.

"Hey, I love these puppies! They're made from real moo-moo skin," he defended pointing at his shoes, "the vendor I stole them from said so," Zelda looked away from him pointedly, suppressing an eye roll. He even rejected their offer of a deep water tunic, it eliminated the pressure felt on the Hylian body from deep sea, and made it easier to swim lower. He claimed it was a placebo or something like that.

Zelda had accepted all of these gifts eagerly, and with much gratitude. In addition to getting correctly fitting boots, the princess also got a belt to tie around her tunic in order to make it more secure. She had since given up on the remainder of her dress, electing to just rip it apart and use the fabric as a hair tie for her braid. And strangely enough, she'd grown inexplicably fond of her pants.

The Zoras apparently used to have many Hylian visitors, thus all of the spare Hylian clothing that they were more than willing to give them. Yet, something appeared to have happened rather recently that changed this. The gentle Zoras accepted Link and Zelda quickly after they had been found not-guilty, and when they showed their eagerness to help find the princess. Their trusting demeanor made Zelda wonder if it wasn't the Hylians fault that the two races had a falling out.

As soon as she was home, her first duty would be to repair this relationship. She'd never even heard of these silly border squabbles, and assumed it was something made up between the local Hylians and the Zoras, nothing major enough to be brought to the attention of parliament.

Their sentence had been to stay in Zoras domain until Princess Ruto's location had been pinpointed, and to help with the search efforts. Zelda was relieved, but Link still seemed annoyed. She could tell he really wanted to get on the road to Hyrule Castle, and he was probably also worried for his horse. They'd given back all of the items from the campsite, including weapons, but said they saw nothing of Link's horse.

"Besides, what good is waterproof feet if _all_ of you gets splashed," Link said ominously. His words made Zelda turn her head just fast enough to get a face full of water swamped into her face. She sputtered, wiping her eyes in anger as she then shook out her soaked arms.

Link's obnoxious, exuberant laughter sent a surge of rage through Zelda as she watched the blonde clutch his stomach, and his body threaten to keel over in mirth. Without thinking, the Princess crouched down herself, extending her arms and spraying a rather sizable wave if she could say so herself, right in his direction.

His open mouth made for a rather satisfying coughing sound as the liquid splashed inside of it. She grinned to herself, but covered the smile with her hand when a flabbergasted Link looked up at her.

"Must've slipped, my apologies," Zelda shrugged slightly, before attempting to regain her soaked dignity by suppressing her smile and continuing to wad on a little ways.

"Oh _now_ you're gonna get it," Link threatened, smiling big as he prepared to splash her once more. Zelda couldn't hold back the slight giggle as she tried to run away from his wave's range

"Would you two _please_!"

The other voice caused both Link and Zelda to awkwardly stop their fooling around. Link cleared this throat slightly, standing up straight as he then tried to ring out his shirt as he walked. Zelda turned toward the two Zoras who were already waiting for them on the stone outlook. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment. It was _not_ proper for Hyrule's princess to be splashing around in the water like a toddler. The Zora guard had a small smile on his face as she attempted to approach them with solemnity, but Altus did not appear to be amused.

"You're on duty right now for Nayru's sake," he reprimanded as they approached, making Zelda lower her head.

"My apologies, it won't happen again," she offered, still trying to quell her reddened face. Link snorted to himself.

"Aaand re-clenched," he muttered, seemingly to no one in particular. Zelda raised an eyebrow, though didn't bother questioning it. Altus sighed, but turned away from the other three and started walking toward the front of the stone over-look. Zelda and Link followed, though the guard waited by the stairs.

"The Princess was here trying to see if she could lure Lord Jabu Jabu out from hiding," Altus explained, gazing off into the horizon, "he hadn't come for his daily offering earlier that evening, and the Princess was worried."

"Uh," Link raised a finger to point at himself, "am I the only one who has no idea who Lord A-boo-boo is?"

"He's the patron deity of the Zoras," Zelda explained to him in a chastising voice, turning around to shoot him a look. Honestly, how did that boy make it this far in life being so rude? Link seemed mildly annoyed.

"Well _excuse_ me Prin- Zel," Link cut himself off, but his slip up caused Zelda to jump slightly in fear. She looked to Altus immediately, but luckily the Zora seemed distracted by something as he gazed off into the water. Zelda breathed a sigh of relief.

"He hasn't come to the surface in a while. We brought a rather large offering for him this time though so, perhaps it will please him,"

"You think he'll help lead us to where Princess Ruto is?" Zelda asked the seemingly dazed Altus, who shook his head in the negative.

"I don't know," he replied honestly, "but it's worth a shot. It seems a little convenient that they both disappeared at once, doesn't it?" He looked to her, eyes weary, as if begging for her to offer some sort of hope. Zelda gave him a sweet smile.

"Very convenient. I'm certain this should help us, at least a little bit," she told him. She could almost see Altus' body relax at her words.

The guard unstrapped his woven backpack, dumping out its contents on to the one grey tile on the out-look. Almost a dozen fish were now sprawled across the stone, and Altus quickly worked to position them in a correct way. He lit the incense that rested inside of pots to either side of them, and then backed away from the offering.

Zelda and the others waited. The guard once again stepped back near the stairs, though the other three remained toward the front, trying to glimpse and see if they could catch sight of the elusive Lord Jabu Jabu. Zelda was practically bouncing in anticipation. If nothing else, she would be able to see the real life _deity_ of the Zora people! This creature was a key aspect in Zora culture, something they based rituals around!

As her excitement practically bubbled over, it appeared the Altus' was as well. Though for differing reasons, Zelda was sure. As the two anxiously waited she realized, much to her disappointment, Link seemed incurably bored.

Almost an hour passed like that. The incense was near burned out, and Zelda was losing hope. She sat, head slumped in her hand, staring off into the sea. Altus however, still seemed as eager as he had since the beginning. Link had fallen asleep.

"Look!" Altus yelled suddenly, jumping up to point at the water. This made Link wake up quickly, mid snore, and look around in a daze. Zelda too jumped at the sudden noise, startled by his outcry. She squinted into the sun, trying to distinguish whether or not there really was movement stirring in the water.

"He's right!" Zelda cried, jumping up herself in excitement. Link groaned, forcing his body to stand as he tried to adjust to the sun with his hand over his brow.

peaking out of the water, just barely, was a golden bump. Zelda inched closer to the front of the out-look in order to see it more clearly. As the golden bump increased in closeness, it also increased in size, growing larger, and higher up. The gold turned into red and gold, blue and gold, an entire headdress. And then the beasts enormous, cool blue eyes began to emerge from the water, each pupil probably the size of Zelda herself. She felt short of breath. Just how large was this animal?

"Something's wrong," Altus said suddenly, causing Zelda to look at the Zora in confusion. His happiness had been replaced with a strange sense of foreboding as he took a step back.

"What do you mean?" Zelda questioned, though she remained where she was. Link too became tense at Altus' words.

"He's coming in too fast," Altus took another step back, "way too fast! Everyone get away!" He shouted as he began a sprint for the behind the out-look. Link didn't have to be told twice, he took off as soon as Altus started speaking. For Zelda however, it was already too late.

As the Princess went to run away, she felt something pulling her backwards. Horrified, she tried desperately to run as fast as she could, but still her body was being sucked towards the beast somehow. She braved a look behind, only to let out a scream of utter horror as she began to lose footing in her desperate run.

The great Lord Jabu Jabu had reached them. His enormous head hardly fit on the outlook as he sucked in a gigantic breath in an effort to consume all of the fish offered to him. Unfortunately for Zelda, she happened to be _also_ on the outlook while he did this. His open mouth alone was the size of the largest room in Hyrule Castle, and his teeth were almost twice the size as the Princess, and looked more than sharp enough to break her in half with one bite.

As the Princess lost her footing, she screamed once more, trying desperately to find foothold on the smooth stone as she dug her nails into the ground with no avail.

"Zelda!" She heard Link shout, as he ignorantly hopped back on to the outlook in a noble effort to save her.

But it was too late.

With a mighty heave, Zelda was sent flying through the air, catapulted directly down the colossal beast's throat as its toothy mouth began to close, cutting off all light. Her world became black and empty. There was nothing to save her as she fell into a dark abyss.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, feel free to review! (:**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N Happy holidays everybody!**

**Sorry this took kind of a while, but now since I'm on break I will _probably maybe hopefully_ get another chapter out to everybody sometime next week? It shouldn't be too hard, I have this whole thing oddly mapped out for once. I'll do my best! (:**

**Thanks for your continued support, I hope you enjoy the next installment of The Hero of Thieves!**

* * *

Link groaned loudly, untangling himself from his awkward landing as he rubbed his slightly rattled head, which wasn't feeling too comfortable after its sudden acceleration. He attempted to squint, trying his best to look around the dark place he had been sucked into as he felt around for his sword. His eyes began to adjust to the lack of light, as for some reason it wasn't completely pitch black, and after finding and sheathing his sword he surveyed his surroundings.

It appeared to look almost like a cave, though it was pink and fleshy. The ground and walls were warm to the touch, as it also squished under his feet and felt oddly moist. Link noticed that towards the front of the cave, a fortress of sharp, white spires formed a closed barrier, effectively blocking out light from that region. Oddly, light seemed to be coming from down the tunnel.

Link sucked in a breath, wobbling unsteadily as the fleshy ground he was standing on began to shake. All around him the cave was quaking, and then an ear piercing groan screamed from deep in the cave. The gust of wind this noise created effectively knocked Link over as he clasped his hands to his ears in an attempt to keep from going deaf. With a startled cry, Link realized where he was, hopping back onto his feet as soon as the cave ceased shaking.

He was _inside_ of the Jabu Jabu.

Link ran towards the front of the giant beast's mouth, reaching what he now realized was the teeth. He pushed on them roughly, hoping that there was some way the great bone would become loose and budge. Realizing that this was ineffective, he then unsheathed his sword, and became to whack at the great tooth. A few moments into this exercise, the room once more began to shake, and the momentum of such sent Link crashing onto his back, and into the damp, soft tongue once more.

He panted, staying seated for a moment with sword in hand as he tried to figure out what he could possibly do to get out of this situation, and what events had lead him here.

Last he remembered was seeing Zelda get sucked into the giant beats mouth. He'd seen her fly through the air and actually get swallowed. He'd thoughtlessly raced back onto the lookout, and tried to keep her from losing her footing before it was too late. Then, once she'd been engulfed, he too began to be lifted into the air by the beat's great inhaling abilities. He vividly recalled its great jaw closing in on him. He'd shut his eyes, bracing himself before its teeth actually came crunching down onto his body.

Yet not only had he made it past the teeth, but he was currently, _unbelievably_ inside of the Jabu Jabu. And still, Link couldn't shake the fact that he had some purpose here. . .

"Oh shit, Zelda!" Link shouted suddenly, jumping up from his seated position to glance around him desperately. As he searched, he saw nothing of the Princess, or the fish they'd given the Jabu Jabu as an offering. That would likely mean that since they were ingested first, they had also already been swallowed.

The full weight of his situation began to set in. He couldn't simply slash his way through the Jabu Jabu's cheek, as they were now in constant motion, and it was likely that they were underwater. If he broke through, the water would rush in and he would drown. Not to _mention_ that even if he _did_ get out alive, the stupid Princess would die and his entire mission would be undone. He would return home a failure.

"Faroe damned Princess. Damn it," Link muttered to himself, making his way down the great whale's mouth, and beginning to entire the creature's throat. "Danger prone, good for nothing," he continued, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling and sloshing sounds that his feet were making against the beat's innards as he forced himself deeper into the beast's stomach. If all went well, he would find the Princess in the beast's belly, or on his way down to it. _Hopefully_ she hadn't been digested yet. From then, the pair would trek back up to the Jabu Jabu's mouth, wait for it to surface, and Link would slash through and they would have to swim to safety.

It wasn't the best plan, but it was all he could think of at the moment.

As he continued deeper and deeper into the beat's systems, he noticed that the light was actually coming from the multitude of veins and such running through the animal's body. They were lit with a strange blue light, as if electrically charged, and gave Link plenty of light to continue on his path. Although, his view was partially disgusting. He didn't really want to know what all of the strange, fleshy, pink things he was passing did for the creature, but he did know he had a strange urge to slash all of them.

He noticed he was likely approaching the creature's stomach, when he began to see random items that the thing had previously swallowed. There were a few crates, dozens of knickknacks, various wooden substances, remains of ships, a shoe, and more. Curiously, at the end of this he came to a drop-off, which looked to act as a slide into another area. He peered over its edge, eyes widening at what he saw.

At the bottom of the drop-off, was a huge lake of greenish, steaming, bubbling digestive liquid. Link scrambled backwards a little, his mouth dropping in horror when the shoe from earlier tumbled down inside of the goo, sizzling and dissolving immediately upon touch. He felt his breath catch in his throat, and he let out a very unmanly squeak of the name:

"Zelda?!"

He shakily got up, hands finding way to the top of his head as he tried to process that his escort had been . . . processed.

"_Ahh_!"

Link's head immediately turned toward the feminine shout, his eyes widening in relief. He took off in a full sprint towards the source of the noise, which was thankfully _away _from Jabu Jabu's death pit of a stomach.

"_Get away_!" Link unsheathed his sword, following the sound of the young woman's screams as he dove through one of the beat's many . . . systems, into another chamber of its stomach.

It was here that multiple jelly-fish like creatures, glowing with the same blue that lit the Jabu Jabu's stomach, had cornered the person who was letting out the screams. Link grinned, and with a battle cry, gripped his sword tightly he rushed the beings, preparing to slice directly right through one of their bodies.

"Stop you _idiot_!" The voice shouted, and it was in this moment that Link realized he didn't _recognize _said voice.

He looked up, his sword raised and prepared for the kill, only to almost lose hold on it. It wasn't Zelda who was making these screams of terror, but an entirely new figure. A Zora.

Before Link had time to react, the jelly-being he was about to slash, slashed back. One of its long, glowing tentacles spun outwards and slapped Link right across the abdomen. The strong electric shock of the hit sent him skidding backwards. The brief pain felt like all of the blood in his body turned to fire for one millisecond, his heart felt as though it exploded inside of his chest.

"Ow. . ." Link managed in a hoarse voice, clutching his side with one hand as he tried to recover from his momentary death.

"Get back up and save me you _imbecile_!" The Zora woman demanded, dodging the blows that Jelly creatures were throwing her way "and don't _touch_ them, they're electrified! how stupid are you?!"

Link clenched his teeth, pulling himself up once more as some of the jelly-creatures set their sights on him.

"I'd have _killed_ that thing if you didn't distract me," he told the Zora, who scoffed at his ignorance.

"More like you'd have killed _yourself_, metal slicing through the core of that thing? You'd be a goner," she told him, to which Link clenched his teeth harder as she added, "not that I wouldn't be better off," she hissed at him as he had to reverse momentum, from almost slicing through a creature yet again.

An idea crossed his mind. Once Link had gained back footing, he threw his sword vertically at his closest enemy. The blade sailed through the air, effectively slicing off the tentacles of one of the jellyfish-things, and having it fall onto the ground with its light extinguished. Link smiled cockily over to the girl who had just managed to squeeze by her pursuers, and reach him on his side of the room.

"Better off without me huh?" He commented, joining her side as the of jellyfish-things began to group up once more on both of them.

"Oh nice job Genius," the Zora gibed sarcastically, "now you don't have a weapon," Link opened his mouth for a retort, but was silenced as the group of attackers began to charge up, and spin toward them.

The pair split up again, Link dove one way and the Zora the other. He noticed that the jelly-fish kept spinning forwards, unable to change direction when in that state, which was a potentially good time to get his sword back and-

"Hey get back here!" Link shouted, running from the tentacles, as he noticed the Zora female grab hold of his sword, and approach the chambers exit. "These things are your problem! Aw _come on_," he groaned as she gestured something with her hands that he could only assume was the Zora version of 'the bird,' and jumped through the passageway into the next chamber. The jellyfish creature that was following her immediately grew bored, and turned its attention to the sputtering Link.

"You _bitch_!," He called after her as he felt his back for his duel sword. It was his least preferred of the two, but _goddess_ was he happy to be a Gerudo in this situation.

He surveyed his enemies. There were still five remaining, and he had only one weapon on him. Sure on _Epona_ he had loads of weapons, like his arrows and his shield, either of those would have been useful in this situation. If it wasn't for the stupid Zoras scaring her off. Or the stupid Zoras kidnapping and forcing him into this situation. Or the _stupid Zora_ that screwed him over.

Man did he hate Zoras.

After he believed to have put a suitable distance between himself and the group of jelly-things, Link spun around on the heel of his foot. He positioned himself in dagger throwing stance, holding the blunt of his sword as he would a smaller knife. Taking deadly aim, Link thrust his arm outwards, releasing his sword on the out-swing, and successfully impaling the lead monster, which crackled slightly before going dim. The jellyfish-things then prepared their attack, spinning forwards and unable to control themselves as they attempted to put an end to him. Link took this as an opportunity to run behind the monsters, retrieve his sword, and repeat his previous process.

After a pointlessly long fight, which would have been significantly shorter with _two_ swords, Link had finally put an end to all of the jelly-thing's electric glows, and thus their existence. Feeling slightly pleased with himself, he removed his sword from the final creature, sheathing it in place of where its missing, sharper, brother used to be. The thought set Link on edge once more.

"If I find that fish-faced son of a bitch," he growled, stepping through the chamber's respective door and back into the main portion of the stomach. He served the area briefly, before sighing and slumping over slightly. He had minimal weapons, a pathetic escape plan, and no Princess.

The hell was a random Zora doing in _here_ anyways? Does this happen often?

Link eyes lit up as he straightened himself out. Did this happen often?! Did she know a way out!? Link had all he could to not to scream in adulation, he was going to get out of here! Link immediately began to try to track the Zora's possible movements. It was unlikely she would travel up the esophagus, as she was in a random chamber that she only could have gotten into purposefully, and since she came from the chamber on the left, there was likely going to be another one on the . . .

"I'm so freaking smart," Link muttered to himself complimentarily, grinning as he entered the adjacent chamber off of the other side of Jabu Jabu's belly.

This one looked nothing like the other. Unlike being a dead end, this one extended on down a long, suspicious ways, and had no glowing creatures. Link wondered for a moment if the Zora girl could have done away with them all before he finished with the other side, though he brushed this idea off as ludicrous.

"Hello?" He tried, walking down the squishy hallway-type-situation cautiously. Nothing responded. He squinted into the dimly lit passageway and tried again, "I'm . . . not mad at you," he continued, before scowling and adding, "well I'm a little mad, but just gimme back my sword and we're even." Still, the Gerudo got no response. He also noticed, much to his displeasure, that there were several other chambers she could have gone into, extending _off_ of this one.

Yet to Link's relief, as he finally reached the end of the long chamber of the Jabu Jabu's innards, he found an annoyingly familiar blue figure. Said figure was glaring at him, with his own precious sword hanging limply in her hands.

"You followed me?" The Zora questioned, eyes narrowing as she regarded him, raising the sword upon him in a very unprofessional manner. How cute, she actually thought she was threatening.

"All I want is a way out," Link offered, holding his hands up in the air, humoring her, "and my sword back, but that's beside the point-"

"_You_ don't give _me_ demands," the Zora told him roughly. Link scoffed.

"Well excuse the hell out of me," Link had to fight to roll his eyes as the Zora woman raised her voice even louder.

"You dare use such insolent tone in the presence of the great Princess Ruto?!"

"Princess?!" Link repeated, flabbergasted for a moment before adding, half to himself, "I should have known, you're a pain in the ass of course you're a princess."

"Fine!" Ruto cut him off, clearly not impressed with his last comment, though dropped sword onto the ground in front of her, "if you want your precious blade back, come and get it."

"Really? Hey, thanks!" The princess huffed as Link began to take a step out towards her and his sword.

Yet it was not to be,

When Link was only a breath away from reuniting with his favorite chunk of metal, a strange, long, pink strand of . . . something, shot up and pushed him against the chamber's wall. Link let out an 'oof' noise as more and more strands of flesh shot their way around him, effectively gluing him in place, much to his confusion.

"What the-?!" He struggled in bewilderment, trying his best to free himself from their slimy grip.

"Those tentacles belong to the parasitic creature currently inhabiting the body of our Lord Jabu Jabu," Ruto said regretfully, "I fear that if I do not do something about it, our great lord will perish."

"Well that's rough and I fell for ya' sister," Link gibed sarcastically, "but can you _get me down_ from here?!"

"Not unless you agree to help me on my quest!" The Princess demanded, "I will free you, and show you the way out of our Lord Jabu Jabu if you agree to help slay the monster eating away at him."

"And what if I don't," Link questioned, glaring down at her.

"Then I leave you here to rot, insolent peasant!" Ruto yelled, flabbergasted that Link could even _think_ of disobeying her. After collecting herself, in a sing-song voice, she added, "and since those tentacles belong to the parasite, it knows it has you in its hold. That means more of those nasty Bari are likely on their way.

"The jellyfish-things?!" Link demanded, "do you even know how to kill them?!" Ruto just stared up at his struggling form, watching Link grow more and more annoyed with s small smile on her smug face, "Cut me out of here you crazy-"

"I will not have your continued insolence," Ruto was beginning to become red in the face as she repeated her conditions, "agree to help me!"

"Fine, fine whatever!" Link answered, continuing to wiggle in the grasp of the tentacles, just cut me out of here!" Ruto nodded approvingly, walking over to the tentacles curiously as she placed Link's sword on one of their respective trunks, and began to move it back and forth in a sawing motion.

After what seemed like forever, Ruto finally sawed through to the other end, watching the piece of flesh as it wriggled and died when detached from its host body. However before she could move on to the next one, another tentacle sprouted immediately in its place, shooting straight out and pushing Ruto onto the wall as well and directly next to Link. Several more followed, effectively encasing her as well.

"Shoot!" the Princess exclaimed, struggling as Link had a moment before.

"Nice one," Link mentioned, glaring at her slightly out of the corner of his eye.

"Silence!" Ruto demanded, "I'll think of another plan, and if you want me to save you when I do, you'll behave!"

Link snorted, "yeah, because this plan worked out _real_ well for you didn't it?"

Ruto didn't have time to yell, for as if on cue, a strange crackling noise started to come from one of the respective chamber doors. Link's head whipped around to face it, the full weight of their situation setting in as through the hole came several jellyfish-creatures, Bari as Ruto put it, and they were headed straight for them.

Link swore, struggling harder against his bonds as Ruto let out an unhelpful scream. The Bari crept closer and closer, painfully slowly as they did tend to move. Ruto's continued screaming caused Link to thrash harder, if only to free his hands to cover his damn ears.

Just as he believed all hope was lost, that he was going to die there inside of a whale-god's belly, something came spinning through the air, slicing right through one of the Bari. Link's heart skipped a beat.

There, a little was away, stood a blue-tuniced blonde woman, with her hair roughly tied back and her clothing mildly disheveled. The look on her usually angelic face was fierce, as if she was in survival mode, and remotely frightening.

Link didn't know if it was the violent look in her eyes or the fact that she was someone besides Princess Ruto, but she looked totally hot in that moment.

"Zelda!" He exclaimed as a sudden weight he didn't know was there felt as though it had been lifted off his chest. Said girl didn't respond, she was bracing herself for the weapon she had fired to come back at her. She lifted her arms in the air in order to cover her face as the boomerang slammed into her forearms.

"Ow," she muttered meekly, as if she had been doing that process for a while now, and picked the boomerang up off the moist floor once more. She held the boomerang outwards, shutting one eye in an attempt to aim, before flinging the device with her arm and effectively slicing through another target. Once again, the boomerang came back at her, and once again she flinched, turning away from it as it slammed her side.

"Cut us down first!" Link told her, not wanting to watch the mildly pathetic display go on any longer.

"Okay!" She agreed, taking a while to aim in her odd way before she sent the boomerang sailing through the air once again. She freed Link first, who immediately rolled away from the tentacles before they had a chance to regrow. After he watched the weapon hit Zelda for the third time, he thought it was best if he take over from there.

They didn't exchange anymore words, the Bari had since turned on Zelda, and were rather close since it took her so long to aim at even one. Luckily, Link used to play with a much less dangerous boomerang all the time as a child, and he knew exactly how to throw it. Without maiming himself that was. It took him only a few moments to cut down all of the remaining Bari, and then finish off with freeing Princess Ruto, who scoffed about being left for last.

As soon as all of the Bari had been eradicated, Link turned to the Princess beside him. He embraced Zelda briefly, a fast hug that the Princess was too awkward to return in such a short amount of time, before pulling away and staring her in the eyes with his hands resting on her shoulders. Her face was heating up, and her look of violence was no longer present as she stared up at him, slightly surprised.

"Thank the _goddesses_ I'm not trapped in here alone with-"

"Who is this young man?" Ruto questioned angrily, "what is he doing here?" She mentioned as Link's hands dropped from Zelda's shoulders

"Uh," Zelda looked back and forth from Ruto, to Link, who simply eyed her with a look that said 'see what I mean?' "Me?" she asked, pointing to herself

"Yes you! Who are you, what's your name?" Ruto inquired, placing her hands at her hips as she challenged her.

"Zel. . ." Zelda trailed off, her eyes flicking to Link as she didn't know what to call herself.

"Strange name for a Hylian boy," Ruto commented, "but it is of no matter. You know him?" Ruto asked Link, as if they were already on the best of terms.

"Yes," Link confirmed before accusatorily mentioning "we were _both_ sucked in here by _your_ precious Abo-do-do."

"Lord _Jabu Jabu!_" Ruto corrected, emphasizing his name as she said it "and it's not his fault! I believe he's been infected by the parasitic being called Barinade, and-"

"Barinade!" Zelda shouted, much to the surprise of the other two, "You believe a Barinade is inside of Jabu Jabu?!" She exclaimed.

"That's what I just said," Ruto glared, "and you two are going to help me kill it."

"Actually, _we two_ are going to get out of here," Link challenged her, grabbing onto Zelda's arm as he prepared to tug her away.

"No!"

Again the outburst came, surprisingly, from Zelda. This kept Link from pulling her any further as he peered down at her like she'd lost her mind.

"We have to stay," she told him.

"Are you crazy?" He questioned, "_I_ have to get _you_ the hell out of here," now that there was once again a chance his mission could go on, there was no way he was jeopardizing it now.

"If the patron deity of the Zora's die, then we're _all_ in trouble," Zelda told him, stealing a glance at Ruto who was watching the display with an unreadable expression, "you may not think something like this affects us personally, but the balance between the many races of Hyrule is key to its prosperity. We cannot simply let the Jabu Jabu _die._"

Link glared at the girl, who met his gaze challengingly. Blue on blue seemed to battle each other for dominance as neither of them blinked.

"Are you helping me or not?!" Ruto cut in, annoyed with their stalling. Finally, with a groaning sigh, Link relented, turning away from Zelda as he released her arm.

"You swear to Din you'll get us out of here if we kill this thing?"

"On my life," Ruto confirmed, smiling as she knew she had gotten her way, "now come with me, the Bari came through _that_ chamber door, so that means the Bari_nade_ is in that direction also," Zelda followed after the Zora without another word, though Link crossed arms, scowling as he reluctantly tailed the two girls.

* * *

The trio continued on in that fashion until they found the Barinade's chamber. Any Bari that they happened to meet after that were quickly dispelled due to Link's skilled use of the boomerang, and the parasitic tentacles also no longer posed a threat because of this.

Zelda had initially landed in the main chamber of the Jabu Jabu's belly. She'd crashed into one of the many piles of junk inside, and watched as the fish offering flew into his stomach pit. Not too soon after that did she stumble upon one of the many Bari. She'd killed it using a broken piece of wood which she utilized as a spear. Though also in the main chamber of the room, she came across the lucky discovery of the boomerang among the multitude of wreckage. It may have given her a few dozen bruises, but it was worth it in the end. She didn't even know Link had been sucked in also, never mind that the princess had, until she heard her screaming from a room over.

The Zora Princess, who appeared to not like Zelda very much, had tracked Barinade's location in the night that she had reluctantly spent inside of the Jabu Jabu. She claimed to know a way out of the great whale, but would only show them if they successfully killed his parasite.

The trio knew when they were approaching Barinade's lair, as a multitude of veins and tentacles extended in every direction outside of the chamber. Dozens of Bari swarmed the room, and in the center, was a giant parasitic blob, shimmering with electric energy and poisonous current.

"Can you use a sword?" Link questioned Zelda, holding out the hilt of one of his twin scimitars to her, who nodded determinedly.

"Yes,"

"Good," Link then began throwing the boomerang about the room, keeping the multitude of Bari back with his quick hand, "I'll cover you, get to the Barinade when the coast is clear and slash it!"

"What's my job?" Princess Ruto questioned, stepping up next to Link.

"You just . . . stay there," Link told her with his trademark grin when she began to become heated.

"This was my idea in the first place!" She told him, though he didn't have the time to humor her.

"So was using the," Link had to pause in order to dodge one of the spinning Bari, "tentacles to trap me, and look how well that turned out!" Ruto fumed at this, but stayed back respectively, likely seeing his point.

Zelda had all she could do to dodge the multitude of Bari, Link was doing his best to keep them away from her, but it was hardly possible with the extreme amount, and the fact that he also had to protect himself and Ruto. The Bari only became harder to avoid the closer to the actual parasite she got, slowing down the process even more. Yet still she managed to make it to the Barinade's core, as Link had successfully cleared a hurried path for her.

Zelda began to slash restlessly away, her movements precise and thorough. The blade tore deeper into the parasite with every slash, and since all of the Bari now had their eyes set on Zelda, this was a monumental task to keep up with, even for Link. She continued on mercilessly, her strokes becoming even faster and even harder as she felt the Barinade shake in pain with every strike.

She was so determined to finish the job, that she didn't notice when one of the parasite's tentacles came stealthily down, and attached itself to her body.

Zelda let out a cry of pain as she felt the Barinade's respective teeth clamp down onto her arm, breaking through the cloth and piercing the skin. She immediately took the sword in one hand and hacked through the tentacle's length, then ripped the part latched onto her arm out.

"Zelda!" Link cried, attempting to make his way over to her and the Barinade, but with much difficulty. Now that the mother parasite was close to fatality, the Bari were out of control.

"I'm okay!" She called back to Link, and she did, honestly feel okay for a moment, which confused her. Her wound stung but she was still mobile. In the chaos, she had been pushed back and slightly away from the Barinade, and was just about to start making her way back over when she noticed something was in fact wrong.

The grip she had on her sword began to loosen. In order to keep from dropping it Zelda had to switch hands. In confusion, she tried to close her hand into a fist, only to find that she couldn't. In fact, she could hardly move it at all. She couldn't lift her arm up either, and could just barely begin to bend it. Panic began to set in as she realized what the poison of the Barinade must be doing to her. She spun back around to Ruto and Link, horror in her eyes as the paralysis slowly overtook her entire right limb.

"What's wrong?!" Link called over the chaos, not sure why she wasn't moving forwards when he was trying his very best to clear her a path.

"I can't move my arm!"

"What?!"

"My arm is _paralyzed_," she was inching backwards, trying to hug the wall in order to not attract so much attention from the Bari. Link kept looking from her, to the parasite, completely at a loss for what to do. She could tell he couldn't decide whether or not to get her out of there, or finish off the Barinade once and for all. After a moments hesitation, he appeared to make his decision.

Link began to advance on the creature, dodging now more than he was using his boomerang. This caused Zelda to herd herself over with Ruto, so that he would have less ground to cover. The Zora Princess eyed her knowingly, almost suspiciously, which caused Zelda to feel mildly uncomfortable while her body slowly began to lean to one side.

The Barinade's tentacles came for Link now, giving up on supporting the gargantuan body in a last ditch effort to protect itself, but he was ready. He ducked and dodged the first two attacks, which gave him just enough time to unsheathe his sword with his right hand and slash it through the third and fourth that came after him. The Barinade shuddered violently, and the Bari began to spin and zoom all around the room even faster now.

Link ignored this. He saw his chance, and the parasite was beginning to become desperate. With his sword extended and a loud battle cry, Link sprung into the air, narrowly avoiding the certain electrical shocks below him. As his body and sword came down to the ground once more, he aimed perfectly on the gaping wound that Zelda had created moments before, successfully impaling the creature all the way through to the other side.

Everything in the room froze. Instantly, the Bari ceased in their movement, dropping to the ground. As the great Barinade's lights flickered, so did its Bari henchmen. The electricity that kept them going quickly drained out, and they dimmed completely. The mother parasite began to smoke, as its electricity, and thus life, also clearly filtered out. Link ripped his sword from the defeated foe, and the beast gave one last mighty heave before deflating into a sack of pinkish flesh.

Zelda let out a sigh of relief.

"You slayed the Barinade!" Ruto exclaimed, running over to Link and _surprisingly_ wrapping her arms around his neck. Link was more than taken aback by the gesture, but offered her his default smile anyways.

"_Goph thub thin_-" Zelda slapped her good-hand over her mouth in shock, her eyes widening as she looked between Princess Ruto and Link in terror.

"Uh," Link furrowed his brow, eying the Princess in confusion.

"_Meh thung_!" Zelda cried out "_Eh haph-eel meh thung!_"

"That's the effects of the Barinade's poison," Ruto pointed out, maybe a little smug about it as she added, "it slowly paralyses whatever it bites, until it reaches the heart, and then the thing dies."

"_Hut_?!"

"What?!"

Link and Zelda cried in unison, to which Ruto crossed her arms and scoffed, "there's a cure at Zora's domain. Lord Jabu Jabu and the boy can both take it as long as we make it back in time. Calm down," she told the two of them with a roll of her eyes,

"_Tham owen_?!" Zelda panicked, "_Ha han eh tham owen_?! _Oo hugh heah meh?!"_

Link had to stifle a laugh. Zelda glared daggers at him, but didn't try to speak again.

A sudden shaking of the ground they were standing on, and strange groaning noise caught their attention, causing them to shift their focus to the Jabu Jabu.

"Quickly!" Ruto told them, taking off in a run towards the central chamber. Link didn't need to be told twice as he took off after her, with Zelda doing a half-limp half-run and trying her best to keep up with them. Since all of the enemies had been eradicated, and they had already taken the path once, finding their way back to the central chamber was a much easier task than anticipated, and they'd made it back there in a matter of minutes.

"He wants us to go this way!" Ruto told them once they'd finally reached the chamber. Zelda huffed, walking was becoming increasingly difficult as they continued on, her leg hadn't given out on her yet but it was starting to feel heavy, and the princess was more than a little nervous.

As the trio climbed their way through one more tunnel, Ruto suddenly stopped in the middle of it to look at the two of them.

"Hold your breath now,"

"Wha-?" Link began, but quickly did as instructed when he saw what was coming straight for them. Zelda sucked in a shocked breath, that she decided to keep in.

Avalanching towards them at great speed, was a huge wave of water. It was only a moment before the water reached them, effectively engulfing them in its depth. Zelda felt herself be pulled by the currently swiftly, and she couldn't really fathom the ability to swim with her dead arm and limp leg. It was all she could do not to scream out in horror as she was yanked mercilessly through the current, faster and faster, and in an upwards direction. Suddenly, the water dissipated around her, and Zelda braved opening her eyes.

Jabu Jabu had surfaced, and Zelda was staring down at the gigantic creatures back, from about 30 feet in the air. She was currently being raised up by the powerful jet stream of water that was exploding from the whale's blowhole, and balancing vicariously at that. She couldn't see Ruto and Link, but as the water began to cease its gizing, she now couldn't help but let out her scream.

Zelda plummeted into the body of water, shouting all the way until she broke surface. Slight panic ensued as she flapped her one functional arm, and kicked with her good leg, in efforts to bring her head above water. Luckily, something, or more likely someone, caught her underwater and managed to pull her struggling body up to the surface. She sputtered, coughing erratically as she greedily took in air and allowed her whole body to go limp, in efforts of not burdening her savoir anymore than she needed to.

When they reached land however, said savoir roughly half-pulled Zelda onto shore, and then continued to attempt to hoist the girl up. Zelda shook her head, eyes blinking open as she saw Link wringing his tunic out on top of the lookout post, and Ruto attempting to shove Zelda up onto solid land. She clearly was growing tired of this, and Zelda got the hint as she began to pull herself up with her good arm.

"Need a hand, Princess?" Link asked, grinning down at her struggling from, probably enjoying the sight more than he should have, given the present situation. His hand was outstretched as he was squatting down by the waters edge, waiting for her to grab on. His white undershirt was soaked through to the bone, and framed him nicely in the lowering sun. She didn't know why, maybe it was the poison and impending death but, in this light, for some strange reason, it was almost like Link was. . . charming? Zelda offered him a small, slightly grateful smile and began to pick her hand up to give it to him.

"Why thank you good sir," Princess Ruto interjected, placing her blue finned hand onto Link's outstretched one. He blinked in surprise for a moment, before realizing his mistake at the word 'princess', and deciding to go with it. He looked to Zelda one last time, who was now almost up and on land on her own, and gave a small shrug, before helping Princess Ruto out of the water. Not that she needed help.

As they began to make their way back into Zora's domain, Zelda finally managed to yank herself out of the Nayru forsaken water. Attempting to catch her breath, she lay there for a second, staring off into the ocean. It was here that she was able to see Jabu Jabu a little bit in the distance, poking his gargantuan head out of the water, as if looking at her also. With a slightly comforting thought, she realized the poor whale was likely in the same predicament as she at current. Half-paralyzed, relieved, and with no one there to help him out of the water.

Zelda huffed, struggling to stand up as she saw several Zora's rushing out of the domain to her rescue. Charming indeed.

* * *

**A/N How was it? Feel free to tell me in a review! (: See you all soon!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N Hello again everybody, and welcome to chapter seven of the Hero of Thieves!**

**SO, just a quick warning, I decided that I'm totally sticking with the T rating, because I really really really like making sex jokes and I just couldn't feel right doing that with rating K+. . . also this story gets kinda violent at times. The first couple of chapters are definitely K+ though all the way, so I hope the major shift I did didn't scare you guys off! (:**

**Last chapter was really action-y, and for all of you that liked that, good there's action in this one too! Not as much tho it's geared more on the fluff end, but like awkward fluff. You'll see what I mean. Tell me how you like it!**

**I also made this chapter especially long since this has been like my fourth time lying about update time, so hopefully this makes up for it 3**

**I do not own LoZ**

* * *

Zelda clenched her hand into a fist, inspecting it thoroughly before relaxing her muscle, and repeating the action. She then lifted her whole right arm, wiggling the toes on that side of her body as well. She smiled, a smile that wasn't lopsided in the slightest as she could _finally_ feel her entire face, before saying in a clear voice:

"I feel much better, thank you!"

"I'm happy to hear that," the high ranking Zora, who Zelda assumed to be the King's Adviser, Altus, mentioned with the slightest of smiles, "you and Lord Jabu Jabu both. Thanks to you and your . . . friend."

Zelda furrowed her brow slightly at the male Zora's uncertain tone, but didn't decide to divulge into the matter as she pushed herself off of the soft wooden table, testing her leg for the first time with satisfying results.

"We should be on our way soon," She told Altus and the other Zoras in the room who had helped heal her. The Elegant creatures nodded in hesitant understanding, before one spoke up.

"Won't you stay for the night Prin- ah," Zelda felt her heart skip a beat as the Zora attempted to cover up their slip with another word, ". . . Miss?"

"I-I'm afraid that won't be possible-"

"Zel?" A new, more familiar voice chimed from the curtain-covered doorway. Zelda's attention was diverted as she saw a strong, human hand pull back the blue cloth to reveal the head of a curious Link. He cautiously looked around, his eyes visibly sparkling as he saw Zelda standing without any struggle, "you're okay!" he said, sounding relieved.

"Yes," Zelda couldn't hold back her smile, deciding to _temporarily_ forget about him leaving her alone with only the Zoras to help her, "thanks to these kind people."

"Yeah, yeah the little boy is better," Link pulled back the rest of the curtain to reveal Princess Ruto, clinging to his remaining arm and rolling her eyes, "big deal." The rest of the Zora in the room shared confused glances, and Zelda's mood immediately dropped.

"Uh, yeah," Link half attempted to wriggle his way out of the Zora Princess' death grip, "anyways, since you're back on your feet again, we really should be going-"

"Not without one more audience with the King," Altus informed them. Zelda eyed him inquisitively while Link continued to attempt to pry Ruto off.

"A more friendly one I hope?" Zelda questioned, a little nervously. Alus gave his slight, reassuring smile.

"Of course, Miss. Whenever you two are ready," the Zora gestured to the exit. Zelda shrugged slightly, making her way over to Ruto and Link, who appeared to have given up on trying to free himself.

This walk up to the King's chambers was a much more agreeable one. No guards flanked them, just Altus and the star-struck Ruto. The few Zora that they passed thanked them respectfully, or bowed their heads in obvious appreciation. Nevertheless, Zelda still felt that something was odd about the behavior of the Zora around her. They were a generally well-mannered and gentle group of people, and she realized they were grateful to her for saving their patron deity as well as their heir to the throne, which would explain their kindness. Yet the odd manner in which they behaved, specifically to her and not Link, seemed almost like they knew that she was-

"Princess Zelda! Sir Link! Welcome back!"

Zelda froze in her tracks. Link let out a strange noise noise that resembled that of a dying frog.

As soon as the group stepped into the king's slightly watery throne room, the large, plump, Zora man shouted out Zelda's full title in adulation. Multiple Zora were already there, surrounding the room and clapping their blue-webbed hands together lightly in appreciation. Zelda whipped around to look at Link, and she could have sworn she saw Altus slap his hand to his forehead at the King's outburst.

"E-excuse me?" Was all Zelda could manage as she and Link were ushered up the podium by Princess Ruto.

"I apologize, Princess," Altus managed, uncomfortably folding his hands together, "I overheard you and the Hylian man talking in the dungeon, and suspected as much. But it was when he called you _Zelda_ before Lord Jabu Jabu inhaled the two of you, that I was certain."

Zelda was remotely shell-shocked. She turned to Link, who scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"My bad," he gave her an apologetic grin.

"Hyrule Castle also recently told us that their Princess was missing," The King pipped up once more. Ruto had joined his side, sitting with her legs and arms crossed as she looked pointedly away from them, "and . . . rather threateningly told us that we would have to help find you, or else."

"O-oh," Zelda squeaked. Link tensed slightly, though as to why, the Princess was unsure.

"For that reason, and many others, we were on high alert for any Hylians who may have been messing around in Zora territory," the King explained.

"So you wanted to _drown_ the Princess? That was your master plan?" Link questioned. The king let out a hearty laugh.

"Yes I may have gotten a little carried away with that there. . ."

"Forgive us for not finding it coincidental that _both_ Hyrule's and the Zora princesses went missing at the same time," Altus countered to Link who rolled his eyes, "that _coupled_ with the castles threatening stance, I think very well excuses our temporary hostility towards Hylian trespassers."

"Hopefully we can put this bad blood behind us now, yes?" The king offered, while adding, "of course, you two are welcome here any time, as Zora heroes!" The group of Zora in the throne room once again clapped appreciatively, smiling at the disgruntled Hylians.

"Thank you, your majesty," Zelda managed, still in slight shock as she bowed her head in thanks.

"And to show our gratitude, as well as deep remorse for overreacting," the king added that last part with a hint of embarrassment, "Princess Ruto has offered to pass a very sacred Zora gift onto you two."

"Specifically Link. _He_ was the one who slayed the Barinade," the Princess added as she walked up the steps toward them. The Zora in the room looked around uncomfortably at one another, very aware of their Princess' rude behavior, but too relieved at having her back to outwardly mention it. Zelda hadn't even noticed the Princess rise from her throne, let alone approach them. She had to fight back a scowl as Ruto pointedly ignored her while holding _Link's_ gift.

In her hand, the Princess held a small, lovely blue jewel that fit snugly in the palm of her hand. It had solid gold rims which came off into six different points, with three cerulean gems, shimmering like the sun's rays would dance over soft blue waves, clasped securely between them. Zelda gasped, while Link regarded the jewel with a dangerous sense of greed shining in his eyes.

"This is the Zora sapphire. Legend says for the beautiful Princess to give it to her chosen hero-" Ruto's words were going right over Link's head as his eyes sparkled mischievously, picking the sapphire up gently in his hands as he seemed transfixed by its captivating qualities, "-and as a symbol of her devotion and ever lasting affection towards him-" Link held the sapphire so carefully, it was almost as if he believed it would shatter to dust in his hands at any moment, "-his acceptance of the Zora sapphire symbolizes his requited feelings towards said beautiful princess."

"Is this real?" he breathed, still transfixed by its beauty. Ruto simply nodded, clearly smug with herself as she walked off the podium. The Zora, as well as Zelda, watched the display speechlessly.

* * *

"I thank you once again for your hospitality," Zelda beamed at the Zora man, who respectfully held her hand lightly between his own, cold, blue ones. A number of the Zora had gone with Link and Zelda to the exit of Zoras Domain in order to see them off safely. As the river flowed gently on, Link had immediately went ahead and across the sturdy wooden bridge, seemingly anxious. Using his ocarina, he'd started playing some slow paced, deep song that Zelda could have _sworn_ she had heard before. When she had tried to ask what he was doing, he simply told her to 'shut up he's trying to focus.'

Now, as Link blew loudly and precisely into his wooden instrument, Zelda was left to say goodbye to the handful of Zora that came to see them off. One of which was the King's Adviser, Altus, who Zelda seemed to have taken an odd liking to. She suspected it was because of his cold treatment toward Link whenever he was being particularly disagreeable, as she found it secretly amusing. The King did not come with them as he rarely left his throne-room, and Princess Ruto said she could hardly bare to watch Link leave, not that Link cared, so she did not come either.

"The thanks is ours to give, dear Princess," Altus gave a slight smile, which was more emotion than Zelda had ever seen displayed on his face as he spoke to her, "and know that the Zora people will _always_ support Zelda Nohansen's future dynasty as Queen of Hyrule." Zelda's smile faded ever-so-slightly as she spoke, not missing the hidden innuendo Altus had dropped by specifically mentioning her and not her father.

"My future dynasty?" Zelda repeated softly, her tone somber as she removed her hand from his slowly. The look in Altus' eyes made it unfortunately clear to her that he had deliberately chosen his words. Zelda cleared her throat as she spoke again, "as I have said before, my dear Zora ally's, I have heard nothing of these menial Lake Hylia border squabbles going on in parliament, and I can promise you that I am a very active participant," she spoke with conviction as she added," I will have this whole mess tended to first thing when I get back to Hyrule Castle, as I am sure no one but I has been alerted to the situation yet," she assured.

"You have good judgement, and a clear conscience," Altus told her, practically ignoring everything she had just said priorly, "but you must not allow yourself to be swayed in your convictions, for your first instinct will always be the correct one," he stared deeply into her eyes as he finished, "never allow someone to convince you otherwise."

Even Zelda didn't quite understand what the Zora Man was saying to her as she furrowed her brow in confusion. As she opened her mouth, about to ask him to elaborate, she was cut off by the voice of another.

"Epona! I knew you'd come back Girl!" Zelda turned around, shocked to see Link's chestnut mare galloping up to him without any hesitation. She blinked back her surprise as he eagerly embraced the horse's neck when it reached him, slipping his ocarina back into his pouch before he did so. Had it been waiting for them? Also, Link could feel affection for things other than himself?!

"Princess, you should probably go now," one of the Zora guards prompted gently, "you still have a long journey to Castle Town, and if you do not leave soon the drawbridge may close," Zelda sighed, forcing a smile back on her face as she nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," she repeated, taking a few steps toward Link and his horse before turning back around and adding "and I meant what I-"

"Any day now your Royal Bigmouth!" Link called from his perch on Epona, impatiently pacing her back and forth in preparation. Zelda pursed her lips, but still took the time to wave goodbye to the Zora who saw them to the exit. As they waved back to her, Zelda swiftly crossed the bridge and made her way over to Link's extended hand. She took it was a chastising look, which was met with a confident grin, and he pulled her up and onto his horses back with ease. Link instantly clicked his horse into a run, jolting them forwards as Zelda hesitantly wrapped her arms around his stomach. Link took no notice of this action as they raced onwards into the setting sun.

Unfortunately, this sunset brought with it the connotation that the Castle Town's drawbridge was surely closed, and that pair of Hylians had taken too long to leave Zora's Domain. That would mean they would be sleeping outside _once_ _again_, which Zelda wasn't exactly excited about. Although, Link seemed to be taking a course slightly away from Castle Town at this point, and the Princess was beginning to recognize where she was.

Zelda pressed slightly on Link in order to gain his attention. Link partially turned his head back toward her as she spoke.

"Where are we going for the night?" She asked him loudly over the wisp of the wind, purposefully trying to add distaste into her tone.

"I was thinking Kakariko," Link shouted back to her, "I figure no one will jump us there, but I mean I thought the same about Lake Hylia."

"How will we get in?" Zelda questioned, leaning in towards his ear so that she didn't have to shout, and pressing her cheek ever-so-slightly against his neck, "Kakariko is guarded twentyfour seven, we'll need citizenship papers to enter."

"I've got a plan," Link responded, slowing Epona down as they crossed the stone Kakariko bridge. He began to fiddle with some of the bags that were strapped to Epona's back, pulling out a folded blanket and bunching it into a ball, all the while Epona was walking forwards. By the light of the moon, Zelda could almost make out the Kakariko gates a little bit in the distance.

She watched curiously as Link handed her the ball of fabric, taking it from him with a raised brow.

"Put it under your shirt," he told her, and then fiddled with his bags a little bit more in order to tie them back up neatly.

"What?" Zelda questioned, though for some reason, proceeded to stuff the blanket inside her shirt anyways.

"You're pregnant, and we're traveling to Castle Town," Zelda manipulated the blanket under her tunic in order to make it look more like a rounded belly, but still had to leave her hand underneath the lump for support.

"We're married?" Zelda asked for clarification, now very clearly able to see the Kakariko gates.

"You bet we are, Sweetcheeks," Link purred, and then turned to look over his shoulder at her. His usual smile began to wilt into a slight frown as he reached out to brush a clump of unclean hair out of Zelda's face. "But can you. . . fix your hair or something? No one would believe _I_ would be married to _that_," he pulled the shoulder of her tunic slightly, which was partially stained with something likely picked up in the Jabu-Jabu's stomach.

"I could kill you," Zelda stated flatly, but began to self-consciously re-braid her hair anyways. She gave Link a once over. His clothing was in a similar state, and by the look of _his_ hair he clearly could also use a bath, "you don't look so great yourself you know," Zelda pointed out, attempting to cross her arms but being unable to due to her fake belly.

"Maybe it's a good thing we started traveling so late!" Link piped in optimistically, "if I brought you back to Hyrule Castle looking like _that_ I'd be arrested," Zelda huffed.

"At least _my_ un-presentable appearance is temporary," she retorted, though quietly now as she could make out a figure not to far ahead of them.

"You wound me," Link replied so sarcastically that Zelda could practically hear the roll of his eyes.

"Halt! Who goes there?" the guard at the front gate demanded.

"Two travelers!" Link replied eagerly and much more loudly this time, as he proceeded to slow Epona down to a stop in front of the man. Zelda smiled as genuinely as she could manage, one hand underneath the blanket for support, and the other on top of it in order to make it appear more baby-like, "my wife and I request a safe place to sleep for the night."

"Kakariko's certainly a safe place," the guard's tone softened as he got a better view of Zelda, "can I see your papers?" He directed his words toward Link.

"Certainly, Good Sir!" Link responded cheerily, and began to riffle through one of the many bags on Epona's back. Zelda simply increased her smile's depth to hide her panic.

As Link searched, the guard turned his full attention, unfortunately, to Zelda. They both stared at one another for what seemed like a very long time, before he finally spoke.

"How far along are you, if you don't mind my asking?" he questioned her gently, offering the slightest of smiles. Zelda rubbed the top of her fake stomach, feeling her heartbeat increase rapidly in nervousness.

"Oh, quite far," was all the Princess could manage as she continued to smile. The guard nodded. An uncomfortable silence filled the air for a time as Link moved on to a different bag.

"Is . . . it safe for you to be traveling on horseback in your condition?" The guard inquired, probably to fill the void.

"Ah," Zelda swallowed a lump in her throat "we . . . don't have that much farther to go."

"We're traveling to our family in Castle Town so they can see the baby," Link jumped in, saving her from having to make something up, "better doctors there too!" Zelda nodded in agreement, relieved with his interjection. The guard gave an awkward smile to the both of them, though didn't respond. Thus followed another uneasy period of quietness, save for the occasional sound of Link riffling through his stuff.

"Geez Louise, where are those darn things!" Link sighed as he now slid off of Epona in order to look in the packs that were strapped farther down on her back.

"My wife and I . . . are also expecting," the guard spoke to fill the silence once more.

"O-oh," Zelda raised her eyebrows in surprise "congratulations!"

"Hey, you too," the guard added quickly.

"Thank you," Zelda went back to smiling as the man, again, awkwardly smiled back. He was beginning to look increasingly uncomfortable with the whole situation as he regarded Link's pilfering for a few moments longer, before letting out a hefty sigh.

"You know," the man cleared his throat, "I wouldn't want to keep your wife out in the cold any longer than necessary, with her condition and all," Link paused, blinking up at the man innocently as the guard gestured towards the gate, "why don't you two go ahead in and. . . find a place to sleep."

"Well! Thank you so much Good Sir!" Link's grateful grin came much more naturally to him than it did Zelda, as he grasped hold of Epona's reins in order to lead her inside.

The guard opened the gates for them, and the pair strutted their way inside of the town.

Zelda hadn't been to Kakariko in years, though it didn't seem to have changed much since she was a child. The usual bustle of the mildly populous village was obviously quelled as it was late, but the sheer amount of villagers living there was prevalent by the large amount of houses whose windows were illuminated by torch light. As they passed the large tree in the center of town, Link glanced up at Zelda with a mischievous look in his eyes, blatantly smirking about his getting them in, though Zelda wasn't entirely sure she was happy about it.

Was it really _that_ easy to sneak into one Hyrule's major villages?

Her mild concern for that fact was overruled by her relief of having a bed to sleep on tonight, as she saw the sign for a hotel only a little ways away from them.

"Should I go get us a room?" Zelda asked, noticing that Link's eyes were also focused on the potential lodging area.

"Good idea," Link halted Epona and offered his hand to Zelda in order to help her down. After this, she yanked the blanket out of her shirt and Link pulled a small leather pouch out from his pocket. He opened said pouch, and passed her a red rupee.

"I'm gonna go put Epona in a stable, so I'll meet you in _our room_," Link couldn't help himself as he shot the princess a wink and added, "keep the bed warm for me, _Lover_,"

"Stop doing that," Zelda reprimanded coldly, shoving the blanket out toward him. Her face turned an unfortunate shade of pink and she spun away from him as he laughed maniacally.

Link led Epona away as Zelda made the brief walk to the decently sized hotel. It was made of grey and white stone with wooden support beams, as were most of the buildings in Kakariko. The windows glowed with yellow fire-light, inviting Zelda in as she softly grasped the doorknob and pushed her way inside.

A singular young woman dressed in purple robes sat at the front desk, and greeted Zelda with a cheery 'hello' as she entered through the doors.

"Hello," Zelda returned pleasantly, making her way over to the counter and plopping Link's red rupee onto the desk, "I would like a double room for the night, please."

"Oh my! You certainly look like you've been through a lot!" The woman at the front desk interjected, bringing her hand toward her face in slight shock. Zelda twitched slightly, but still forced her smile. She guessed she really did look bad didn't she?

"Yes," she sighed, "and I'm quite tired, so if you wouldn't mind?"

"Oh right! Let's see-" the woman ducked underneath her counter for a moment, and emerged with a singular golden key that had the number '4' etched into it, "unfortunately we're fresh out of doubles. We have a single available!" Zelda fought the urge to groan as the woman continued, "we also have a laundress on call who can wash those for only a bit extra-"

"I'll just take the single with two keys, thank you," Zelda interrupted. She was going to get an earful when Link got back. She could practically hear his smug taunts already. Well jokes on him, because guess who gets the bed?

"Sure thing Miss . . . ?" The lady eyed her as she waited for Zelda to complete her sentence.

"No-" Zelda responded automatically, though cut herself off before finishing her last name, biting her lip in an effort to prevent anymore sound from coming out her rather _stupid_ mouth.

"Miss . . . No?"

"Yes!" Zelda said quickly, fidgeting slightly as she grabbed the keys off of the counter, "thank you! My. . . husband will be along any moment!" she nodded respectfully to the woman as she made her way over to the stairwell that would grant her salvation from another awkward situation. Zelda _hated_ coming up with on-spot lies.

After briskly mounting the stairs, she waited at the top of the stairwell for a few moments, just out of view of the service counter before she heard another person enter.

"Are you Mr. No?"

"Uh," Link's familiar tone drawled in mild confusion, "probably?"

"Your wife is waiting for you in room number four! It's right up that way," the woman paid no heed to Link's lack of understanding as Zelda then heard someone's footsteps coming up the stairs. As soon as Link caught sight of Zelda's slightly reddened face, he gave her an almost evil smirk.

"Mister and Missus _No_?" He asked her in a hushed tone, seeming as though he was biting back laughter.

"Silence," Zelda responded, handing him his key and spinning away from him as he reached the top of the stairwell. She began to go about finding their room in the short hallway as she briefly inspected the lettering on the five doors, "I panicked okay," she admitted once the reached number four, and slipped her golden key into its lock. It gave way with a satisfying _click_.

"For someone whose entire job is all politics, you're a _terrible_ liar," Link told her, amusement clearly laced in his voice as Zelda rolled her eyes and pushed the door open. Link eyed the one-person bedroom with a raised brow, before looking at Zelda questionably.

"All they had was a single," she answered his unspoken thought quickly, trying to ignore his ever-growing grin as he quite obviously prepared himself for an inappropriate remark.

"You know," Link began in a sing-song voice, "if you wanted to share a bed with me, all you had to do was ask."

"Is-" Zelda cut herself off from reprimanding him for the _hundredth_ time, as a thought struck her. _It's what he wants._ "Is . . . this not straightforward enough?" Zelda spun around to face him, doing her best to look earnest as she added, "my way of asking?"

"Ak-" Link let out a strange noise, clearly not expecting her words as his eyes slowly grew bigger and his mouth began to drop open. Deviously, Zelda watched as all of the blood drained from his tanned face, then rushed back far too quickly, turning him a satisfyingly red color, "hm?" Link finished, in a high-pitched tone, finally closing his mouth.

"Why, Mr. Hero," Zelda began to cover her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide her mirth, though it was not so easily disguised in her eyes nor her voice as she said, "I do believe you're blushing!"

"You little-" Link let out a breath she didn't notice he'd been holding as he trailed off with a tiny, almost impressed smile adorning his now regularly-shaded face, "for Farore's sake you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I see," Zelda immediately swallowed her laughter as she lulled her head back around to blink up at him, "would it really be that bad?" The princess questioned, suddenly somber in her tone as she added, "sharing a bed with me?" Link froze in place for a moment, unable to answer.

After a brief pause of uncomfortable silence, a mischievous grin began to make its way across Zelda's features.

"Stop _doing_ that!" Link demanded, though Zelda couldn't hold back her bubbly laughter.

* * *

The next morning couldn't come soon enough for Link. For some reason, sleeping on the wooden floor felt a _million_ times more uncomfortable than sleeping on solid ground, so he hardly slept a wink while Ms. _Princess_ slept like a baby.

Regardless, first thing in the morning Link payed one of the hotel's pretty little laundresses to wash his green tunic for him. Though, he didn't use any money. Heh.

Okay he paid her with money, but that extra part was the tip.

After that, he went out to buy himself a new, almost identical to his old, pair of pants and an undershirt. Those two items were stained or torn beyond repair, and not really worth washing. At this time, Queenie finally got up and took _even more _of his money to go buy herself a new outfit. Though, Link couldn't really complain as it was either spend a little extra, or meet Hyrule Castle's guillotine.

Link had just finished purchasing the pair a few fruits for their breakfast as well as some other food for the road, when he saw Zelda making her way out of one of Kakariko's clothing stores just a little ways in front of him. If he was going to admit it to himself, he didn't realize it was even _Zelda_ at first, and only after thoroughly checking her out did he feel the shame of realizing who she was.

Zelda's hair was down, the shimmering and clean golden locks were pulled back only slightly by a black headband. Over all of her clothing, and tied loosely around her neck was a dark blue cloak, likely for confidentiality, though it was currently pushed behind her shoulders and not offering any such cover. She was wearing a pair of tight-fitting, light brown riding pants, and high dark brown leather boots that looked fairly practical. Her shirt was more on the fancy side, a white blouse with puffed out long-sleeved arms. She also wore an off-black laced corset over this, which looked pretty dang good on her. Though, that may have been because Link had never priorly _seen_ the princess when she didn't look like she'd been gutterfucked by a heard of buffalo.

He shook his head slightly, reminding himself that Zelda was still the same ignorant, annoying little Princess no matter what form she took, and began to make his way over to her. She noticed the Gerudo approaching, and shot him a frustratingly beautiful smile as she crossed her hands behind her back pleasantly. Link supposed one _could_ be pleasant with a full night of sleep on their side.

"Look at you!" She greeted cheerily, "what do you know, it _can_ clean up nicely," she complimented, giving him a once over as he was changed into his new clothes, in addition to his freshly cleaned hair and body.

"I _do_ look pretty great," Link agreed, jokingly running a hand through his hair while holding his basket of groceries in his other arm. Zelda rolled her eyes at him, though he could tell it was in good spirits. "You look okay too," he added dismissively.

"How positively _charming_," Zelda quirked her brow in amusement. Link grinned back at her.

"I'm sorry it's just," Link shrugged as he said in an earnest tone, "I liked the pantalettes better."

"What?" Zelda looked down at her more form-fitting choice of clothing, "why?" Link smiled at her, as '_charmingly'_ as possible, and looked deeply into her eyes as he spoke to her.

"They were see-through," Link sighed, as if mourning their loss. Zelda fixed him with a violent glare, and her cheeks slowly began to grow a familiarly light dusting of pink.

"I thought we weren't _doing that_ anymore," she hissed, positive mood all but plummeted, much to Link's ironic enjoyment.

"Right, my bad," Link feigned regret, "that one was just for the road," he assured, though it was unlikely he was going to stay true to that statement. Zelda clearly wasn't going to take that as his final answer as she placed her hands on her hips and got into what Link liked to call the 'Link-stop-annoying-me-or-else' stance, that so many people so often gave him.

"That derogatory form of speech is both grossly inappropriate and wildly disrespectful towards not only my position and title, but-"

"Oh I see," Link began sarcastically, cutting the Princess off and proceeding to annoy her even further, "but it's okay when _you_ do it?"

"That's different!" Zelda defended, "I only did so to _prove_ the point that it is inappropriate, and besides," she smiled a little to herself "It's actually _amusing_ when I do it,"

"Well _excuse_ me Prin-"

"_AHHHHH!"_

The shrill, panicked cry caused Link to immediately reach behind his back for his trusty scimitar, and Zelda to hastily pull her blue hood over her head in an attempt to disguise her face as she allowed the cloak to envelope her body. Link briefly surveyed the area, his eyes landing on the source of the distress almost instantly. The Gerudo prince wasted no time as he took off into a run, dropping his basket of supplies in favor of his sturdy wooden shield.

"Stay back!" He shouted to Zelda, who obviously wasn't going to listen, as she frustratingly tailed directly after him.

In the midst of a scurrying crowd of villagers, and in front of the now _broken_ entrance to Death Mountain, stood a ferocious, gigantic, green lizard. The beast had to be at least ten feet in diameter, with a razor sharp set of teeth, a dangerously pointed horn, and two feet complete with some mean-looking claws. Link raced onwards as he watched the two Death Mountain guards struggle to contain the creature using their metal shields and castle spears. As they prodded at the beast, attempting to usher it upwards and out of Kakariko, the creature spun violently around, whipping the two men off their feet and into a rock wall with his mighty tail. Once he was done with the two soldiers, now likely unconscious, the beast reared its large head at the frantic civilians, and inhaled deeply as he took his aim.

However, Link was not going simply to let this happen as he jumped in front of the terrified villagers, holding his shield out in preparation for a headbutt or something of the sort. However Link was ill prepared for what came next.

Instead of charging, the beast simply breathed out his large intake of air, and created a torrent of flames that were headed right for Link and his puny wooden shield. The Gerudo gasped, just barely rolling out of the way fast enough to keep himself from being scorched. Though, unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about his shield. Cursing, Link quickly discarded the flaming object from his arm, and turned back to face his opponent. Link now had the creatures full attention.

"Get out of here!" he shouted to the remaining people, who were trying rather hard to heed his orders as they ran for cover.

"Dodongo!" Link heard a familiarly annoying voice shout in the not-so-far off distance, "Link, that creature is a Dodongo!"

Link glanced back behind his shoulder frantically, only to see Zelda taking cover behind a recently-destroyed stone wall as she shouted words out to him. But before he could tell her to go find a better hiding place, the 'Dodongo' breathed out again, spraying a multitude of flames Link's way that he once again had to roll away from. Once he had steadied himself, he finally had enough time to yell at the princess.

"What the hell are you-!"

"That thing is a Dodongo!" Zelda shouted back, "I've read about them in many books! They are native inhabitants of Death Mountain's most inhospitable core, and their bodies are all but fireproof!" Zelda soundly mildly awestruck as she yelled these facts to Link while he continued to hurriedly dodge the creature before him.

"Well that's great for them!" Link shouted back to her, cautiously sidestepping around the beast as it tracked his movements easily, never once breaking gaze with him "but did you happen read anything about how to _kill_ these do-" Link gasped as the creature inhaled again, picking up his speed to run away from its straight trail of flames, "dragon things?!"

"Actually!" Zelda called back to him, cupping her hands around her mouth in order to be heard over the screaming of the villagers and the hissing of the Dodongo, "though that's a common misconception, it's not a dragon! It's actually reptilian, more of a relative to-"

"Zelda!"

"Right!" The princess shook her head briefly, as if organizing her thoughts before continuing, "according to 'Death Mountain's Official Fauna and Research Guide,' though the Dodongo can be surprisingly fast on their feet, when they're breathing fire, they cannot put energy into anything else!" Zelda told him, making him quirk his brow in interest, "they're frozen for a few seconds until they run out of firepower, attack it then!"

Link didn't need to be told twice.

The Gerudo once again began to sidestep around the Dodongo's body, watching it slowly spin along with him until it finally decided to inhale. He took his chance, rolling to the side of the flame before racing forwards and slashing out with his sword. The beast growled in pain, ceasing its fire in order to whip its head around and slam into Link. The Gerudo landed on his back hard, but pushed himself up again almost as soon as he hit the ground.

"Link, you should also know that the Dodongo gain their firepower with a constant flow of energy in their body that-"

Link chose to ignore Zelda's babble as he once again set his sights on the overgrown salamander. He had an idea that he believed could possibly be effective, if he timed it right.

He slowly spun the Dodongo around once again, though it now had little patience for the Gerudo after he'd left a gaping hole in the reptile's side. After only a few moments of this dangerous dance, the Dodongo sucked in another massive breath of air, which Link took as his cue to roll out of the way. This time, instead of moving towards the beast, he rolled farther from it and to the side. At this distance, Link found his footing and hopped back up onto two legs.

With a battle cry that he couldn't help but utter, the Gerudo raced towards the Dodongo at full speed, jumping and lifting his body into the air right before he reached the beast. He positioned his sword downwards, falling onto the nape of the Dodongo's neck, blade first, and connecting at full force. The beast's fire quelled as it was replaced with violent, pained hissing, while the creature thrashed in a last effort to get Link off of its back. Said Gerudo was having none of that as he simply pushed the blade down even farther into the reptile, rotating the scimitar as he did so in order to lodge it fatally into the creatures spinal cord. With a snap and one last hiss, the creature finally fell limp under Link's sword, smoke still steaming from its partially opened mouth as its life was all but extinguished.

Link let out a sigh of relief, briefly surveying the damage done on the village during the fight, and assuring that there were no casualties, until he laid his eyes on Zelda. Link shot her a slight, confident smile, from on top of the Dodongo. Surprisingly however, she did not return his relief.

"Link! What in Din's name are _you doing_?!" Zelda's cry borderline hysterical as she shouted at him. Confused, Link looked over his shoulder to see if there was any other threat he had somehow overlooked while the princess continued to freak, "get down from there!" she distraughtly instructed.

"What's going on?" Link cautiously removed his sword from the Dodongo's back, and began to carefully jump down onto solid ground.

"Didn't you listen to a _word_ I just _said_!?" Zelda demanded, jumping up from behind her hiding place frantically, "the Dodongo gain their firepower from a powerful energy that is constantly flowing throughout their body! If this energy is given the chance to build up without release for a given amount of time, specifically when the creature is _dead_, the flammable energy backup will cause a massive explosion! Link, you have no time, _get out of the way_!"

Link didn't need to be told again as he immediately began to hightail it away from the dead creature. Horrified, the Gerudo sprinted onwards, finally understanding full well that the huge, slayed being behind him was now reduced to a ticking time-bomb, and had more than enough capacity to blow him to bits.

Link saw a flash of light, which caused him to instantly drop to the floor and fold into a ball, covering his head with his arms as best he could as he braced himself for the inevitable.

"_Nayru's-_" a voice chimed from beside him, though he dared not open his eyes to find out whose. The ground suddenly shook with a violent convulsion, and the light that had flashed only a moment before became blinding as it overwhelmed his senses, "_Love_!" The crackle that sounded from the explosion reverberated throughout the town and rang in his ears, continuously crashing against more and more objects as they crumpled in the explosion.

Yet, Link didn't feel dead? Or even heart for that matter?

The Gerudo finally began to blink open his eyes, taking a moment to adjust to the normalcy as all he could see was a simmering blue haze that blocked his vision. Or wait, was that an actual blue haze in front of him?

Before Link could decide if he was seeing things or not, the haze began to fade from his vision, giving him the opportunity to slowly untangle himself from his huddled position. On his knees now, he could see the full force that the explosion had dealt only a little ways ahead of him.

It had completely taken out the already broken gates to Death Mountain, and created a gaping hole in the unfortunate home that was built closest to it. The explosion had completely decimated the ground that the Dodongo died on, creating a sizable crater that was undeniably where the creature had detonated. Yet, why was Link okay?

As the shock wore off, Link looked up to see a blue-cloaked figure standing above him. This person also appeared to have made it unscathed, and the grass directly circling them seemed to have unexplainably survived, while everywhere else the ground was lifeless, black, and charred.

"_Zelda_?!" He breathed to the figure, his voice higher and less manly than he would have liked to admit in that moment, as he tried to wrap his brain around what had just happened.

The princess turned towards him, revealing a still mildly upset, though mostly exhausted looking face as she panted heavily.

"Why didn't you _listen_?" she managed, still trying to catch her breath as she spoke to him. Link stood himself up quickly as he noticed Zelda swaying slightly, and grabbed hold of her shoulders to steady her.

"What the hell was that?!" Link demanded in a whisper-yell, shaking the slightly fatigued princess as he spoke to her. Zelda was about to answer him, when another voice cut into their conversation

"H-Hero?"

Link instinctively threw Zelda behind him, as if she was a toy that a child would hide behind their back. The Princess squealed slightly, but brought her hood up over her face once again as she obstructed herself from view. All around the pair were a multitude of villagers, poking their heads out from their hiding places to see what had happened. One child had began approaching Link, addressing him questionably.

"M-me?" Link managed, still mildly shocked that he made it out of that situation. _How_ he made it out of that situation. The child smiled, and more and more villagers began to exit their hiding places. Soon, an entire crowd had gathered around Link, and Zelda, luckily, all but blended in with them.

"This green clad man slayed the Dodongo!" One of the guards who had been knocked out by the beast's tail announced, "_and_ he shielded this civilian from the explosion! He's a hero!"

Link scratched the back of his head sheepishly, partially because that shielding part was the other way around, and partially because he was not expecting this kind of praise for doing something he would have done in any situation. All he did was kill a monster.

"Three cheers for our brave hero!" One of the villagers cried, and this started a chain reaction of applause and whoops from the mob around him. Link smiled hugely, giving up and deciding to bask in their praise as he allowed them to shower him with their thanks.

His grin faded ever-so-slightly as he noticed Zelda's blue cloak sneaking away under the cover of the flooding villagers.

Link tried to take a few steps toward the fleeting figure, but was unable to, due to the mass amount of people surrounding him slowly. He felt like he was being swamped by a wave of 'thank you's, and being asked about a hundred questions at a time. Pretty soon, Link was really just trying to get out of there far more than he was appreciating their attention.

"What's your name, boy? Where are you from?" A clear voice suddenly asked, placing a hand on Link's shoulder in a congratulatory manner. This was, as recognized by the armor, one of the guards. Link wasn't entirely certain he was comfortable with Royal Hylian Soldiers touching him, but he pretended to not notice it.

"Link, and I travel," Link replied loudly, trying to talk over the happy shouts of the villagers. The Guard grinned at the boy.

"The wandering hero Link! How noble!" He exclaimed, before beginning to pull Link toward the edge of the crowd, "please, let's give our hero some space!" He told the exuberant people, who were clearly reluctant to oblige. As Link was pulled away by the guard, he noticed that the man wasn't just getting him away from the crowd, but that he was actually _leading_ him a house. That was odd. Did he want to to reward him or something?

"Why don't you come with me, son? I think you and I have some matters we need to discuss," the guard prompted as another soldier began to hold back the crowd of people who were sad to see their hero go.

Link couldn't really say no to his fantasy of money of course, so he began to willingly follow. Besides, he had no reason to believe anyone in Kakariko would be out to get him.

These were the thoughts Link comforted himself with as the man led him to the small brick shack. The sign on the door said 'Royally Appointed Kakariko Guard' in an official looking font, so Link really thought they meant business. Which only made him more uncomfortable. The guard unlocked the door briskly and pushed it open so that Link could go inside first. This action naturally made him extremely suspicious, so with senses on high alert, the Gerudo stepped into the room.

Said room was practically empty save for one other guard, who greeted Link monotonously, a desk with papers sprawled all over it, and a few plush chairs. There was another room branching off of this one, but Link couldn't tell what was inside of it.

"Have a seat, Hero," the Guard who lead him in instructed, gesturing to one of the cushy seats that were sprinkled throughout the room's environment.

"Alright," Link muttered as he did as instructed. Come on, like he would pass up the opportunity to put his ass on something that comfortable looking, "and uh, thanks for getting me out of there," Link mentioned awkwardly, still not entirely certain why he was brought in this place. He rubbed his left hand in anticipation for any sudden moves, completely prepared to unsheathe his weapon at any given moment.

"No problem boy," the guard replied, still smiling as he made his way to the desk-seat across from him. Link simply watched the man as he moved about. By his mannerisms and tone of voice, it was clear that he wanted something. Was he upset Link was the one to protect the village, and not the military? Did he just want to personally thank Link? Did they know about Zelda?!

After a moment of silence long enough for Link to think himself into a panic, the guard finally began speaking.

"Dodongo attacks . . . are not typical here," he began, catching Link's attention immediately, "those creatures very rarely leave their caves, and almost _never_ travel all the way down Death Mountain," the guard offered, shifting in his seat a little as his smile vanished, and was replaced with something much more serious, "this time the city is safe, and we have you to thank, but I fear that this may just be the first of many more attacks."

"Why do you say that?" Link inquired, careful not to show too much interest as he listened to the man's story.

"The Gorons, stupid, brute, primitive things, have been acting more and more hostile toward Hylians lately," the guard leaned back in his chair, clearly trying to read Link's expression as he spoke, "we have reason to believe that they sent the Dodongo to Kakariko on purpose," he phrased his words carefully, "and there are plenty more where that came from."

"So why are you telling _me_ this?" Link asked, again careful not to give away any emotion. He was actually praising the goddesses that Zelda wasn't hear right now, if she'd heard this talk about the Gorons, she would lose a screw. Link on the other hand, prided himself on keeping a good facade. Though ironically, chastised himself on his short-temper. He supposed he would just have to see which trait held out the longest.

"The other soldiers and I are needed in Kakariko to help repair and defend its borders, and we can't spare the manpower to do anything about the Goron threat but," the guard leaned in now, giving a small smile toward Link, "but a strong Hero like you could, possibly, go up Death Mountain and rough the Gorons up a bit? Just to show them Hylians mean business,"

"Rough them. . . up?" Link repeated, earnestly not fully comprehending what they were asking at first. Why in the _world_ would they want to send Link to attack the Gorons?

"Yeah, just knock 'em around a little, nothing major," the guard shrugged as he leaned away from Link again, "threaten them, I don't care. Just make sure they don't pull this kind of thing with us again."

Link clenched his hand into a fist, though again was careful to assure that his face remained as neutral as possible. They just want to send a stuntman because they were too _cuckoo _to actually pick a fight with the Gorons themselves.

"I hate to disappoint you," Link began, his tone undercut with sarcasm, "but I'm kind of already on a very important mission, and I don't have time for-"

"You'll be rewarded handsomely of course, if that's your wish," the guard interrupted. Link immediately quieted down as the guard continued, "and if it's not . . . then there's always the consequence of not _obeying_ a request from a Royally appointed Hylian officer looming over your-"

"I'll think about it," Link promised, standing up as he spoke. He wanted to leave the dingy shack now more than ever. However, when he turned walk out the door, the other guard in the room held his spear out in front of Link, effectively halting him.

"Please do more than _think_, Link," the man at the desk asked in an oddly threatening manner.

"Right," Link nodded as he turned back around toward him, forcing a closed-lip smile on his face as the guard finally dismissed him with these words:

"And remember, what I just told you, it's a _secret to everybody_."

* * *

**Maybe I went a little overboard with the references. Don't you judge me.**

**Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review or fav or follow!**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N ****Hello my lovely readers! **

**Whoopsie**** its been a while hasn't it? I really apologize, chalk it up to writers block? Kind of? I mean I knew exactly what I wanted to happen in this chapter, I just I wrote it in choppy bits like every other week over the course of two months so I'm not quite sure how well it's gonna flow.**

**I think It's dialogue man, I try real real hard to make sure every character has their personality not get all OOC on me and it just takes a lot of ****rewriting.**

**Anyways, I could keep begging for forgiveness, or just tell you all what's on my mind.**

**So silly mistakes of mine sometimes get so annoying that a few of you have complained, and that is totally my fault! I'm terrible at catching my own mistakes. Someone recommended I get a Beta-Reader. if anyone would be kind enough to _want_ to be a Beta-Reader for this story, I would totally get one! I mean they would have to put up with inconsistent updates that have a range of 1 week to 3 months, and deal with my first drafts which are barely even english, but I will work on that for next chapter. Then again I clearly don't really know how that works on that site (its so official), but if my mistakes are really so prevalent that they've been pointed out more than once, it's probably time~**

**I'm still sorry about the wait, how does a few bi-weekly (maybe tri-weekly I'm only human) updates sound to make up for it?**

**I've also recently been regretting naming this 'Hero of Thieves' and not 'Prince of Thieves.' Oh missed opportunities.**

**Without any further adieu, please enjoy the next Chapter of HoT! (PoT) (:**

**I do not own Legend of Zelda**

**(Oh right there are a few more swears in this one then there have been in the past. My bad kitties, T for Teen!)**

* * *

Link adjusted the new shield on his back, not quite used the the weight or feel of the metal object as it repeatedly bounced against him. The soldiers were _nice _enough to lend Link one of their standard issue Hylian Shields, which disgracefully had symbols of Hyrule's royal family and militia designed over its painted-blue appearance. It was gaudy and unnecessary, but it was certainly more of a sturdy shield than he had ever had before, and he'd needed a new one. Though it sort of disgusted him, there was no way he was turning down free shit.

Then again, everything was free when you were the King of Thieves.

The Gerudo stole a glance at Zelda as they trekked up Death Mountain. Her gaze was locked far ahead, hood no longer obstructing her face as there was no need to conceal her identity. Link had tried his best to persuade her to leave the whole issue alone and return to Castle Town, yet somehow found himself taking _another_ detour with the stubborn princess.

All things considered, she had recently proven _fairly capable _of taking care of herself. He idly wondered just how far her training extended. Could she wield a bow? What forms of sword fighting did she excel at? Could she do hand to hand combat? Now that he knew the Princess could do freaking _magic_ the potential hidden abilities were endless. Although, Zelda seemed too uncomfortable to talk about it, and Link was too bewildered to pry.

Now the two of them stalked silently up the recently abandoned trail on Death Mountain. Zelda, mildly enraged by what Link had told her about his request from the guards; and Link, mostly annoyed about the unnecessary side quest they were being forced to go on.

"I can't _believe_ the Kakariko Guards are handling it this way," Zelda muttered under her breath for the um-teenth time that day, "this will get them all redistricted for sure. _Demoted_ if I have anything to say about it."

Link gave her a side eye, "if you're so against what they asked me to do, why are we _doing_ it?"

"I already told you!" Zelda scoffed at him, "we are going to diplomatically discuss the grievances from both sides, and come to a mutually benefiting agreement that suits everyone's best interests-"

"Under what authority?" Link rolled his eyes as he cut her off, "Definitely-not-a-princess Zelda and her sidekick, not-even-a-citizen Link? Why would the Goron listen to us?"

"I already thought that out," Zelda informed him dismissively, "after all, we can't have a repeat of last time," she made sure to use just enough of a sassy tone to imply that it was Link's fault the Zoras figured out her identity. She was right of course, but it was still annoying.

"I hate that there even _was_ a last time," Link exclaimed, mildly ticked off at her inability to let things go, "I have to get you back to the castle _now_, we already know the King's threatening people and going crazy looking for you."

"Well what do you want me to do?" Zelda demanded angrily, ceasing in her walking in order to properly rant, "ignore a very serious issue between an entire race of people and one of our most populous towns? Who knows what could happen between the time of us leaving and me being able to send aid to Kakariko! I have to go through parliament and get it approved… and even then I can't oversee the mission myself. Dodongo are already potentially being sent as weapons to attack, and how much damage would've been done if we hadn't been here?"

"That's not your problem right now, and you can do a lot more for these people as Princess than some random little peace-loving Hylian girl," Link also stopped climbing in order to face her directly. "It's best for everyone if you just go back to Hyrule Castle and fix all of this then! _Din_ Zelda! if I didn't know any better I would think you were avoiding your duties as Princess on _purpose_," Link added sarcastically, making Zelda visibly boil over with rage.

"You don't know what you're_-_" Zelda began, but Link _wasn't_ listening. Not to her anyways.

"Shh!" he demanded, cutting her off as her brow furrowed in anger. He squinted off toward the top of their trail, straining to hear

"Did you just shush me?!" She questioned, taken aback.

"Shut _up_ for a second, Zelda!" The Princess took that as a yes as she glowered at him, but did not continue to speak. Link could tell she was still seething about that whole 'neglecting her duties' thing, but that wasn't his main concern.

Farther up the mountain a strange rumbling sound had caught Links attention. He took a step forward, eyeing the peak suspiciously for a few seconds, before he finally caught sight of a few rounded objects growing larger and larger in his vision with each passing moment. His eyes grew wide.

"Rockslide!" He shouted, taking a few steps back and grabbing hold of Zelda's arm as he began to run downhill. He was sprinting towards a large ledge that jutted out from the side of the mountain, they could hopefully ride out the natural disaster using that as protection. Zelda squeaked in terror, but kept up with him. That was at least, until the huge rocks traveling at an unnaturally fast pace finally reached them.

Link lost his grip on Zelda as one of the rocks heading straight for them caused her to panic and push Link forward and out of the way while she jumped back herself. The Gerudo lost his footing as he scrambled to get himself out of the stone's path even more, slightly disoriented by the dust cloud that had been kicked up by the commotion. He managed to make his way over to the ledge he originally had his sights on, taking cover under it as he tried to catch his breath while the rockslide continued. It only took him a few seconds to realize he forgot something.

Link stood slightly, only to duck back down again as a rock flew over the top of his shelter. The dust cloud cleared just enough for him to make out the princess fumbling with that long cloak she purchased back in Kakariko. It seemed she had also just managed to avoid that large rock, but a smaller one had caught on her clothes and lodged itself into a crook in the ground, effectively locking her in place in one of the worst situations to be locked in place _ever_.

Link felt his chest close up in panic as he looked upwards, seeing a particularly fast rock shooting down the mountain and aimed _directly at her_. Zelda clearly noticed it too as she gave up on trying to untie her cape, and tugged at it as hard as she could in an attempt to dislodge herself from the trap. Of course, this was also ineffective, so she then started to yank the fabric over her head, scrambling to rip it off.

Link had been weighing the importance of his life compared to the importance of his mission in his head as his gaze flicked from the impending doom to the unlucky princess. Swearing, the Gerudo made up his mind as he made a blind dash to where Zelda was currently preoccupied. However, he was unfortunately stalled as he had just plunged himself back into a fray of obstacles that required avoiding, and there was no way he would be able to reach the Princess before she was essentially flattened.

Finally, Zelda managed to rip the fabric and frantically pull it over her head. But there was no time for celebration.

She had freed herself mere seconds before the bolder was on her, leaving no way for her to avoid it without divine intervention. The princess seemed to accept this in her final moments of staring the rock down, having no other choice but to futilely brace herself before impact.

"NO!" Link screamed, taking one last step out to her, his eyes wide and disbelieving as she used her last second to cover her head with her arms. Why wasn't she using that spell from before? _Why wasn't she using that spell from before?! _

Then, something completely unbelievable happened. The tumbling rock rock _swerved_.

Link physically couldn't breathe as he watched the rock spin out of control and slam hard into the side of the mountain, crumbling into a large pile as it did so. Zelda too peaked her eyes open in confusion, shock clearly overtaking her as she registered the fact that she was still alive. Was . . . that another one of Zelda's magic spells?

As all of this happened, the larger rocks had all but stopped tumbling. Still struggling to function properly, Link briskly closed the gap between himself and the princess, roughly grabbing her arm as to assert silently that she wasn't allowed to leave his side because she was too freaking incapable of surviving alone in any situation.

"Link something's wrong," Zelda began, sounding very calm for someone who was literally just an inch from death, "there was nothing to turn that rock, it should have hit me. There is no physical way it could have changed its motion in that last second without an intentional force acting on it. Its inertia is far too great. I think that's a-"

"Goron," Link hissed out the word, unsheathing his sword as he let go of Zelda. He wasn't wrong. As she had been speaking, the larger "rocks" that had also been shooting down the mountain began to uncurl themselves, revealing bulky, large brown bodies with stone plated backs and tribal markings adorning their front. Their faces were blank and almost dull looking, with small purple eyes and large flat mouths used for crushing rocks. While uncurled, the Gorons looked slow and unthreatening, but as Link and Zelda had just seen, apparently that was not always the case.

The Goron looked between one another, as if at a loss for to what to do next. Link gripped his sword tightly in anticipation

"Uh," one of the Goron finally spoke up, looking back and forth from their knocked out friend and the two humans, "The Goron... command the Hylians to leave our land!" He finished, glancing at the rest of his group as if asking if that was an acceptable statement. One of them shrugged.

"Why did you try to kill us!" Link shouted back angrily, making no moves to do as instructed.

"I don't think killing us was their intention Link," Zelda muttered to him, looking back at the dazed Goron who was still collapsed. Link ignored her.

"Hylians aren't welcome on Death Mountain! That is Goron territory and Hylians can't have it!" A different Goron spoke up this time. The remaining nodded vigorously.

"Oh is that so?" Link inquired furiously, gripping his sword even tighter "well why don't you_ petrified__ piles of shit come over here and kick me off if it's _your _mountain!"_ Link yelled, swinging his sword outwards threateningly.

"Stop it!" Zelda hissed, swatting at his shoulder to pull him out of his rage. Link whipped around to shoot her an utterly bewildered glare. She was the one who was almost just killed! What was wrong with her?!

"Even _you_ can't seriously fight a team of Goron, Link," Zelda told him, shaking her head chastisingly at the man, "I don't care what those guards told you back in Kakariko, you wouldn't last five minutes against _one_ Goron, let alone three," Link just blinked at the Princess like she had physically struck him. Which, she might as well have with how maliciously she just wounded his pride. He was defending her! She was the one who almost died, not him!

"Uhh," The Goron looked at one another again, still at a loss for what to do. People usually ran away at the rockslide part. "O-okay," they began to waddle their way over to the pair at Links request.

"No-no-no he didn't mean it!" Zelda cut in nervously, "we don't want to take Death Mountain from you, I promise! We're here on behalf of the royal family and-"

"Royal family!" One of them echoed, seeming angered by the simple mention of such a thing.

"I really think you should go," another added sincerely. Link just stared at the girl like she had lost her mind.

"On behalf of Princess Zelda," …Princess Zelda corrected herself, "we are her personal advisors, we work for her, not the King," Link froze, still eyeing the girl. That's right, for all her denial she wasn't stupid enough to think the King was beloved by all of Hyrule. Though it still seemed a little cocky of her to assume that _she_ was.

The Goron looked at each other, communicating silently once more. It seemed like they _did_ soften at the name of Zelda, the narcissistic brat, in favor of the King.

"Why would the Princess send advisors to the Gorons?" One asked curiously, though he didn't seem skeptical of her claim, rather honestly intrigued.

"She wishes to make amends," Zelda prodded gently, "she plans to assume the throne soon, and plans to personally see to the grievances of all of her subjects in order to properly assess-"

"Whoa-ie girly, that's a lot of vocabulary you're throwing' at us!" The Goron who appeared to be the leader cut in with a big grin, "I don't know if the Princess is ready to hear _our_ list of complaints though," he added a little more seriously.

"She is," Zelda replied quickly, though she seemed to relax a little at their change in mood, "in fact, it is her top priority to keep the border of Kakariko and Death Mountain a hospitable place for both races of people," she insisted.

"Afraid that'll be a lot harder than she thinks," Another Goron said wistfully.

"She will do absolutely _anything_ to restore the borders," Zelda asserted, stubbornly taking her stance.

"The princess really said that?" The final Goron asked, sounding perplexed.

"Word for word," Link interjected, mumbling almost to himself. Zelda responded by moving her foot on top of his boot and digging her heel into it painfully.

Link had tried to remain silent. He realized that this must have been her "incredibly well thought out plan" that she was working on for when they met the Gorons. He figured he'd better keep his mouth shut, since if he ad-libbed anything he would likely throw in a detail Zelda hadn't accounted for and mess up her entire facade. He knew how terrible she was at on-the-spot lies. However, he'd trusted her to come up with an unnecessarily detailed story for them being there anyways. Though he was beginning to suspect she purposefully didn't clue him in on the plan so that Link would be forced to keep quiet and let her do the talking.

That bitch.

The Goron exchanged looks between one another. Their expressions were literally impossible to read as they quietly nodded and shook their heads at each other. Link could practically feel the nervousness radiating off of Zelda, so he lightly placed a supportive hand against her elbow. If she was too obvious they would be kicked off the mountain. Which wouldn't bother Link, but his concern lay with whether or not they would make it off with all of their body parts intact.

After what felt like forever, the three conscious Gorons turned their attention back toward the Hylians.

"Okay," one said pleasantly, "C'mon we'll lead ya to Goron City," he gestured for them to follow as he somersaulted himself into that rock-like ball from earlier and slowly began to roll forward.

"I'll go collect Gormane, you guys go ahead," another added, turning toward his fainted comrade.

"Can you carry his fat ass all the way back home by yourself?" The other joked.

"You're right, better leave him," the pair laughed to themselves, and then both decided to walk over to where the fourth Goron was passed out and carry him home as a unit. Link and Zelda exchanged puzzled glances.

* * *

If the Goron in Goron city weren't happy to see Hylians, they didn't show it. All it took was an "it's cool" from the guy that lead them into the city, and they became the friendliest people Zelda had ever seen. They switched from cautious, to rambunctious in a matter of seconds, inspecting the Hylians thoroughly. A group crowded around them curiously as if they'd never seen anything like the two of them before. Zelda smiled as pleasantly as possible, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy despite their surprisingly accepting behavior.

"You'll probably want to speak to Darunia, he's gonna be pretty mad before you explains things to him," their escort told them, as if it was totally normal for a one ton rock creature to be infuriated at their mere presence.

Darunia was the patriarch of the Gorons on Death Mountain. Zelda instantly recognized the name. In fact, she had met the man once when she was very little, right around when he took over leadership. Though, that all happened far too long ago for her to remember anything about their meeting, or even what he looked like.

"Don't worry Little Blonde Girl, he'll understand!" One of the citizens told her comfortingly, noticing the terror in her eyes "you're here to help!"

"Y-yes," Zelda swallowed. They were right. She only wished to make amends.

"Cool! what does this do?" Zelda heard Link's voice excitedly question from a few feet away. He was squatting next to a round black plant with green weeds encasing it. Yellow and orange buds sprouted from the top, which Link unsurprisingly couldn't help but want to touch.

"That's a bomb flower, Goron use them all the time! Really useful for clearing way through the mountain," one of the Goron explained.

"Can I try?" Link's eyes sparkled mischievously

"Of course you can, Tiny Green Man!"

Link didn't need to be told twice. He excitedly slid his hands under the base of the black bomb, bracing his feet in a lifting position. With a grunt, Link heaved the bomb flower out of its weed prison, holding it up over his head triumphantly as it began to tick ominously. All of the Goron in the immediate vicinity instantly rolled into their rock-plated balls.

"Awesome! Now what?" Link asked the safely cocooned Goron around him. The flower's soft ticking noises began to speed up slightly.

"Throw it away from you, Link!" Zelda shouted frantically, cowering behind one of the Goron-balls. He did as instructed, throwing it off of the ledge they were on and down toward the bottom floor of Goron city. Once Link threw the bomb, the Goron around him eagerly unfurled in order to watch it fall and see what it hit.

The bomb didn't make it too far down. Instead, it detonated on the second floor in front of one of the Goron Shopkeepers, making them jump in surprise and drop what they were doing, huddling into a ball for safety. The explosion also caused a slight tremor to travel up to Link and Zelda's floor, making the ground rumble beneath them.

Link and the rest of the Goron exchanged glances with one another after analyzing the damage they caused. All at once, every one of them boiled over with a hearty laugh. The Goron who gave Link the instructions patted him on the back in a congratulatory manner. Zelda watched the exchange with her mouth held open in shock.

"You wanna try too, Little Blonde Girl?" One of the Goron asked her, still chuckling lightly.

"No. Thank you," She replied flatly.

"_You brought _Hylians _here?!_"

The booming voice reverberated throughout the entire city, even more so than the bomb. Zelda froze, terror overtaking her as she looked back at Link. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, in a fashion Zelda could only assume reflected her own. The Goron crowd around them began to disperse almost at once, rolling away uncomfortably in order to avoid any trouble. Link and Zelda just watched as their amiable Goron acquaintances left them alone on the top layer of Goron City.

"What do you want to do?" Link muttered to the Princess, making his way over to her in order to talk quietly. Zelda swallowed, glancing down into the abyss where the yell had come from.

"Let's go," she said with surprising conviction, beginning her descent.

"_Zelda_," Link hissed quietly, expressing his disapproval of her decision. He'd wanted to leave since the second they got there, and was likely hoping she would have changed her mind by now. She ignored him and continued walking, and Link had no choice but to begrudgingly follow.

Goron city was a stone complex of multiple layers built _into_ Death Mountain. The floors continued in a spiral all the way down to the city's base, and along the way dozens of Goron lived their life in the bustle of their home, rolling around quickly from place to place, as each floor was built somewhat like a ramp, allowing them to roll anywhere with ease, and therefore granting them fast travel throughout the city. Built into the walls of the complex, were homes and shops and shortcuts out of the central roads, also where Goron would zip in and out of. Bomb flowers littered the sides of the wall for convenience purposes, and the whole city was well lit by a multitude of torches, no matter how far they traveled downward. The overall layout of the place was rather ingenious; allowing the Goron to function with ease.

As they continued down the path, more and more Goron went out of their way to avoid them, and it became clear that no one wished to face the great Darunia's wrath. The bottom floor was home to more intricate structures, such as a giant vase with Goron faces carved into the sides, placed proudly in the center of the city, and a multitude of finely woven rugs. A group of about a dozen Goron had gathered at the final floor, looking upon the two strangers with inquisitive eyes. At the center of this huddle however, was someone they hadn't seen before.

He wasn't round and friendly in appearance like the others. No, this man was larger, much more muscular, and wore a very obviously angry expression. He also had a full head of white hair and beard, and his rage-filled eyes felt like they were boring holes in the two helpless Hylians. Link grabbed Zelda's elbow instinctively, either to prevent her from walking anymore forward or from straying too far from him or both. It seemed like he had been doing that a lot lately.

"_You two_," The head Goron rumbled in his deep voice, folding his massive arms in front of his body as he spoke to them, "you dare come into _my_ city and seek _me_ out?" His aggressive way of addressing them practically paralyzed the young princess, but she forced herself to respond anyway.

"W-we aren't who you think-" Zelda's voice rarely faltered. She had years of grooming for public speeches, yet now she sounded like nothing more than a meek child.

"Aren't what I think? You mean, you _aren't_ here on behalf of the Royal family? You _aren't_ here to try to take our land? You aren't _Hylian?_" The head Goron demanded. Link snorted at this, but otherwise remained silent, squeezing Zelda's arm in cue for her to start talking. Sure, _now_ he decided to listen to her.

"We have no interest in taking anything from you," Zelad tried, her voice gaining some leverage as she continued on, "all we want is to have a peaceful and mutually benefiting border with your people-"

"That's rich, coming from a royal messenger," Darunia shot back.

"We don't work for the king," Zelda told him quickly.

"Oh _really_? Then what authority do you even have, little girl?"

"Princess Zelda," Link had to clamp himself onto her again, this time to keep from falling over in shock,"we are granted authority from Princess Zelda. We work directly under her."

"Zelda?" Darunia tested the name.

"Yes," the girl stared into the Goron Leader's eyes, hoping that he didn't have a generalized vendetta against _her_ too.

"You mean the Princess Zelda that's _missing_ sent you?" Darunia said lowly, any bud of trust that may have been forming clearly crushed in that one instance. Zelda was taken aback.

"Missing…? How did you...?" Zelda breathed out. The Goron and the Hylians hadn't had contact for _months_ by the looks of it, how in the _world _would he know an intimate detail like that about the state of royal affairs?

"A bunch of the king's goons, or what I like to call 'the last Hylians to make it off of Death Mountain alive', came trotting up here swords out, and threatening to 'finish us off' if we didn't actively help search for the brat," Darunia clarified, but quickly switched back to hostility with "now I don't know why these _idiots_ brought you here" he gestured to the Goron who had attacked them on their way up the mountain as he fiddled with his hands sheepishly, "but you're going to wish they hadn't"

"Darunia, you didn't tell us that was why those people came!" A Goron in the crowd pointed out with shock.

"I didn't want to cause an unnecessary panic over the king's childish bullying" the leader told them angrily, "And I _assumed_ you guys wouldn't be dumb enough to lead the next Hylians you saw straight to us!"

Zelda shook her head quickly, opting to gain attention from the much larger man again, "You're not listening-" she tried to reason, before once again being cut off by his booming voice.

"No you're not listening!" The Gorons temper had clearly reached boiling point as he reverted back to shouting, "your lying, thieving, conniving kind isn't _welcome here!"_

"But-!"

"Throw them in the dungeon!" Darunia said to the Goron around him vaguely, turning away from the Hylians to show that he was done with the conversation.

"Uh," a Goron spoke up in response, "we don't _have_ a dungeon."

"Well, make one!" The leader seethed. Though still, no one made any moves to go after the pair. However, the interest displayed by the crowd earlier had all but vanished, replaced with an air of open distrust. It was clear Darunia's claims hadn't fallen on deaf listeners.

"Hey _asshole_," Zelda froze as Link, unsurprisingly, reached _his_ anger boiling point. "We're gonna patch this shit up whether you like it or not," the boy stated with an equally as threatening tone. Darunia stop walking away, whipping himself back around to challenge Link face to face.

"I'll hear nothing from you _soldier,_" The Goron spat the word out like it was an insult, and Link clearly took it as one.

"Soldier?!" He echoed in disgust, "What in the-"

"Don't try to deny it," Darunia hissed "your Hylian Shield is displayed clear as day"

"I'm _not_ a soldier, dick! I stole this," Link replied incredulously. As if repulsed by the idea of obtaining the shield through legal means.

"Ah, a thief _and_ a liar," Darunia accused.

"Maybe _you_ should be more careful who you're talking to" Link snapped, "If we're really who you claim we are, then wouldn't that mean the King's militia is just _waiting_ for you to slip up and harm a hair on our pretty little heads?" Link questioned smugly. This implication however, just made them look even more guilty of Darunia's claims. The larger Goron leaned away from Link, as if shocked by his response. Zelda shot him a cautious glance to tell him he had gone too far.

To everyone's surprise however, Darunia clutched his stomach, threw his head back, and _laughed._ A loud, thundering, boisterous laugh that matched the rest of him. Link and Zelda exchanged glances. "How _arrogant!"_ He managed after quelling his amused convulsions, "to think, that _we_ perceive you _Hylians_ as a threat!"

"You . . . don't?" Link asked, mildly dumbstruck by the unexpected response.

"I could crush-hell _Garry_ could crush you right now if he wanted to!" Darunia said through chuckles, gesturing at a Goron next to him who was apparently named Garry. He nodded and the surrounding Goron also seemed fairly amused by Link's inquisition.

"Well then why are you so cautious? Why are you so suspicious of us?" _Why are Hylians so suspicious of you? _Zelda pried, now utterly bemused by their state of relations. The Goron were on high alert, as evident by their welcoming committee, and aptly feuding with the people of Kakariko. Yet, Darunia claimed that Hylians weren't a primary threat? "Why are you fighting with the Hylians if you believe yourselves so much stronger than us?"

"As hard as this may be for you to believe, not _everything_ is about the Hylians," Darunia composed himself back to his slightly angry demeanor. "_I_ think you're despicable creatures who would do anything to take our home away from us, especially under the name of your terrible King, but clearly most of my people are willing to look beyond that," Darunia rolled his eyes, "do you really think you would have been marched in here if anyone actually perceived you two as dangerous? Their hesitancy was more because my people haven't seen a non-hostile Hylian in years."

"Hold the fuck up," Link cut in waving his hand in a gesture for everyone to stop talking, "If _we_ aren't the problem, what is?" It was Darunia's turn to look confused.

"You were serious about that?" The large Goron questioned, furrowing his impressive brow down at the blonde pair, "you really don't know what's happening to us?"

"Would I be asking you if I _did_?" Link replied sassily, crossing his arms in impatience.

Darunia snorted at his attitude, but much to Zelda's disbelief, seemed to be losing his own air of anger as the two continued talking. It almost seemed like he found Zelda's polite hesitancy off-putting, and Link's blunt rudeness… c_harming_?

"I suppose not," he agreed, leaning back and away from Link into a less threatening stance "but our business is none of yours," he stated firmly, "and the less your kind knows about our affairs the better."

"So, what, your plan just to keep us trapped here?" Darunia paused for a moment.

"Yes that's exactly the plan," he nodded, his glare becoming steely, "Either that or I could send you home with two broken legs as a warning for your kind not to-"

"We're _trying_ to help you!" Link shouted, losing his cool as it was clear that he was getting nowhere with the stubborn Goron, "can you just tell us what's shoved up your asses so we can all _do something about it_"

"Help us? You really want to help us?" Darunia shouted back, making Zelda jump slightly in surprise, though Link didn't seem to flinch, "My people are starving, Dodongo have taken over our food supply and overrun Death Mountain. It's all we can do to keep the city from getting taken, and _your_ _kind _has been sitting back and enjoying the show, just waiting for our land to get overrun, so you can claim it for yourselves," Darunia raged, gesturing at his people wildly as the surrounding Goron avoided looking at them "And _you_ want to _help_? Now? After all this time?"

"_Yes_!" Link shouted back with an equal amount of vigor, causing Zelda to flinch away from him slightly as well, "fucking, tell us how!" She really didn't appreciate how freely he cursed in front of her as she looked between the two short tempered men with slight panic.

"Well then," Darunia started, crossing his arms over his enormous chest, "Why don't you go ahead and slay every single Dodongo on Death Mountain," the Goron gibed sarcastically, looking around at his fellow people as they began to chuckle in a sort of sad amusement. "Because that's the only way you can help us anymore," Link clenched his jaw in frustration, clearly fuming at their underestimation of him. Zelda rightfully began to fear his next words.

"Fine," he said simply, staring Darunia down as the Goron ceased their laughter.

"… what?"

"I said _fine_," Link repeated firmly, "where's their nest, I'll go right now."

"Link-" Zelda felt it was her time to interject as she said his name in a warning tone. However, the only response she received was a light squeeze on her shoulder as Link proceeded to gamble with their lives.

"You're serious," Darunia asked again for clarification.

"What did I _just_ say?"

The intimidating Goron once again threw his head back and laughed, clutching his belly as he did so, "I _do_ like your spunk, Boy!" Darunia roared as he shook his head. Yup, he definitely preferred blunt rudeness. "But I'm afraid you can't take a joke when you hear one."

"I know how to kill Dodongo, I've done it before," Link prompted boastfully, intent on swaying their opinion as he spoke with his trademark air of confidence.

"But have you killed an entire swarm of them?" Darunia's words were more serious now, "Hundreds, no, _thousands_ at once?" He scoffed, turning his head away from Link "Don't waste my time, Boy."

"Just tell me where they are," Link demanded "I'll leave right now! You won't have any more problems with them come tomorrow morning."

"_Link-"_ Zelda hissed again, but only received another halfhearted shoulder squeeze which made her bite her tongue. Ironic, considering only a few moments ago he was the one pushing for them to not get too involved, and she was the one willing to take risks. But after learning just what they were up against, she wasn't exactly opposed to going back to Hyrule Castle as quickly as possible and sending aid _that_ way. Though if Link knew what he was doing...

With a short sigh, she realized all she could do was hope that whatever plan he'd cooked up would work. They'd made it this far trusting each other's instincts, hadn't they?

"Slow down, Boy!" Daurina told him, though it almost seemed like any trace of preconceived rage he had held at Link's being Hylian was all but replaced with a peaked since of interest, "You're so eager to die," Darunia spoke in an almost cautious tone, "Or maybe you're just trying to use slaying the Dodongo as a cover for you to escape?"

Link groaned, rolling his eyes away from the Goron. His gaze stopped however, when it landed on the mildly distraught princess next to him. He maintained eye contact with her as he spoke, "How about you keep _her_ as your prisoner here until I get back," Zelda's jaw dropped. She took it back, never trust Link for anything! "That way you can be sure I'm not just trying to escape."

"_What?!"_ Zelda cried, her voice squeaking in exasperation, "No! No, I'm going with him!" She shook her head quickly, dismissing the idea.

"He does make a solid point, Girl," Darunia agreed, looking back and forth between the two with a surprisingly softened glint in his eyes.

"To go alone is a suicide mission!" She pointed out desperately, almost pleadingly to the Goron. Link once again tried to give a soft squeeze on her shoulder, since that had worked so far, but she swiftly swatted the hand away with an overwhelming sense of rage.

"Actually, taking you along would be the suicide mission," Link muttered, half to himself as he rubbed the top of his hand. Zelda glared wildly at him.

"She _also_ has a point though," Darunia nodded thoughtfully, clearly considering Link's proposal, much to Zelda's dismay, "What do we do with her if you die in there and don't come back?"

"Well I'll be dead," Link said simply, "so what do I care?" Darunia let out a small grunt of amusement.

"I disagree with this plan wholeheartedly!" Zelda practically shouted, "You can't just _kidnap_ me! Why don't you hold his rupees hostage or-"

"You're not coming with me," Link cut in firmly, before adding more quietly, "And don't even joke like that."

"This entire idea is _insane_!" Zelda finalized, stomping her foot much like a petulant child who didn't get her way.

"This was _your_ idea!" Link told her as she gaped at his inquisition.

"_This_ was no such thing!"

"Alright!" Darunia cut in with his booming voice, effectively gaining both of their attention once more, "bicker about it on your own time, but if the fake soldier is willing to do this for us," he shrugged, "then we have nothing to lose."

"I am," Link said with determination, turning away from Zelda as he spoke.

"Then," Darunia sighed scratching the back of his scalp before gesturing his hand for Link to follow, "Come with me, I guess."

Without another glance in the furious Zelda's direction, Link did as told, marching after the Goron leader with an air of resolve around him. The remaining Goron turned their attention to Zelda almost sympathetically as the watched the girl seethe with anger. She didn't speak again, nor call out to them as they walked away, she simply watched in her bewildered rage.

"We'll take you to a room so you can get some sleep, Little Blonde Girl," one of the Goron said, placing a huge hand on her shoulder in a comforting way. The princess balled her delicate hands into fists tightly, before spinning away from the sight and trailing after the friendly Goron in quiet obedience.

Link was an idiot if he thought it would be that easy to keep her here.

* * *

"As you can see, it's dangerous to even get near the place anymore," Darunia said with a disappointed shake of his head, "We've lost dozens, and it's a shame too, because that cave's rocks were our primary food source."

"You guys eat _rocks_," Link said with a wrinkle of his nose, eyes locked downward at the bottom of the chasm from their safe viewing point.

Only a few hundred feet below them, Link could make out a large expanse of caves that dug into the side of Death mountain, for how long it was impossible to tell. He could also see a decent amount of scuttling over the rocks below, caused by lizard like creatures venturing in and out of the cavern complex at their leisure. Even from this high up and with the lessening light of the setting sun, Link could still make out the Dodongos fairly clearly, which only emphasized just how _huge_ the things really were.

"You guys eat plants," Darunia pointed out simply, seeming almost as mesmerized by the sight as Link.

"True," The pair stared down the side of the mountain for a little while longer before Link let out a heavy sigh and turned away, leaning against the wooden railing that was been built along the overhang Darunia had brought him to.

"Getting cold feet already, Hylian?" The Goron asked with a deviously large grin, while Link shot him a glare.

"Shut up," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably, "but it _is_ a lot when you actually see it…" he trailed.

"You don't _have_ to give your life for us you know," Darunia told him, "you could take the cowardice approach and flee, no one expects you to be successful anyways, we'd just assume you died" He said bluntly, eyeing the Gerudo carefully as Link stared unwaveringly at his own hand. He didn't respond for a moment, seemingly considering the idea.

"I think I want to do this," Link eventually said with an unyielding certainty, clenching his hand into a fist as if crushing something in his palm.

"Look, I don't know about that whole story you and your girl cooked up about who you're working for," Darunia began with his straightforward way of talking. Link still didn't look at him, "but I've thought it over, and decided not to care. I like you, Kid. I've never met a Hylian brave enough to yell at me like that," Darunia let out his version of soft chuckle, which was actually more like a boisterous laugh. Link grinned in response, seeming to suddenly break free of his trance as he finally made eye contact with the Goron.

"And you probably never will," he said, smirking up at the larger man with a mischievous glint that Darunia, understandably, didn't quite grasp.

"You are creepy though, Kid," Darunia told him with a raised brow, "but, I said I was gonna trust ya, and I'm a man of my word," Darunia shrugged, "I can't lend you anymore people, but you _can_ take your girl with you, if you want."

"Absolutely not," Link dismissed flatly, expressing no other interest in the matter. Darunia snorted in amusement again.

"I figured. Still thought I'd offer, though."

There was a comfortable silence for a while as they stared over the edge of the cliff. After a period of time, Link let out a sigh and stood up, stretching himself out as he turned his attention to Darunia.

"Wanna head back?" Link asked with a yawn, flopping his arms at the sides. "I could definitely use my beauty sleep," Darunia didn't make any move to get up, and instead gave Link a strange look.

"You want to know how I know you two aren't with the king?" The Goron said suddenly, making Link pause.

"We're not complete idiots?" he asked with a joking undertone.

"Isn't that blasphemy?" Darunia queried with his huge grin, "No, you're definitely idiots, it's another thing," Link scoffed slightly as Darunia gestured for the impatient Gerudo to sit back down. his intense sense of curiosity caused the boy to obey. "A few years back, when this whole thing started, the Hylians and the Goron were still on pretty good terms," Darunia began, becoming more serious as Link rested his head in his hands in interest, "The sudden increase in Dodongo was a little too much for the amount of Goron we had then, so we figured we might as well get rid of the lot of them. Ya know, to make sure they couldn't multiply even more to a number we really couldn't handle," Darunia shrugged, looking over the edge at the massive amount of Dodongo below them, "It wasn't unusual for the Goron to get into spats with the Dodongo every few years, it's always been a matter of 'us or them' on Death Mountain."

"So what happened that was different this time?" Link pried, scooting forward almost unconsciously. He'd been dying to get answers about this whole thing since they first made it to Goron City.

"Well, there were a lot of 'em, so we sent an aid request to the King for a few spare knights. Again, it was never unusual for the Goron and the Hylians to help each other out in the past. We'd maintained pretty good relations after the Great War, but it was the first time asking Daphnes for that kind of favor. He ignored us," Link nodded as if that part was obvious.

"Daphne's father was good to us, so we thought it might have run in the family," _This_ part surprised Link slightly. His brow furrowed as he continued to listen. It had always been his understanding that the King before Ganondorf was an elitist. At least when it came to Gerudo. "We were wrong of course. We ended up fighting the Dodongo on our own, but there were more than we expected. A lot of my people were slaughtered," Darunia cleared his throat, looking away from the lizard creatures below them, "We once again applied for aid, this time of the medical variety, and received no response. Then, we tried sending our children down the mountain to Kakariko for safety reasons. We didn't get a reply, so we just went ahead and did it," Darunia shook his head in disappointment, an almost bitter smile on his face as he continued speaking, "The Hylians reacted like we were monsters. They chased us back up the mountain. They've kept us caged up here ever since with the continuously growing amount of Dodongo, and my theory is that they're just waiting for us to all be killed so that they can finally have our territory," Darunia finished, looking away from Link as if ashamed that he and his people were struggling.

"The Dodongo are making it down the mountain now too, one got into Kakariko," Link told him, "If you're right… I think the King's Militia might be getting desperate to get rid of you guys."

Darunia laughed at that, slapping his knee. The roar was so loud and sudden that it seemed to startle the Dodongo all the way below them. "You talk like you aren't even a Hylian, Boy! Don't say such things too loudly, you could get arrested for treason."

"King Daphnes is an asshole and his father was a tyrant!" Link yelled boldly into the wind. The Dodongo on the rocks once again were spooked by the vivacity of the two loud men. Darunia bellowed in his laughter, but once the pair calmed down, the Goron switched the tone back to a more somber one as he'd noticed a glaring absence in Link's cursing of the Kings.

"And so was Ganondorf," he pointed out, making Link swallow a sudden lump in his throat and fidget uncomfortably, "depending who you talk to, it's all politics," Darunia said simply. He wasn't wrong of course, and Link would have to remember he wasn't around Gerudo anymore. A lot of people misjudged Ganondorf's rule because of how he came into power.

I guess you're right," Link confirmed. Luckily, Darunia didn't appear to notice his hesitancy.

"That's probably why Hyrule is having such a panic over Princess Zelda being missing," The Goron continued. That caught Link's attention as the Gerudo lifted an inquisitive eyebrow, "Her kindness and decent politics are notorious around here, and everyone, including my people, are hopeful that she'll turn things around," Link fought back a snarky comment as Darunia continued, "But if you ask me it's all just wishful thinking. Even if the rumors are true, the fact is, Hyrule's Monarchy isn't just corrupt, but it's also a patriarchy. Besides, wasn't everyone so sure Prince Daphnes was going to fix the country when he took power back?" Link nodded thoughtfully. That bit about Zelda was surprising, he'd heard no such words from his people. Though maybe it was that the Gerudo were more of a realistic rather than optimistic group of people. The pair relapsed into silence again, and it was Darunia's turn to rise, preparing to leave as he brushed the dirt off of his body.

"Read to go, Kid?" The Goron Leader asked, Link nodded, but bit his lip as he brought up one thing about their conversation that had bothered him.

"Did…" he cleared his throat, "did you ever asked King Ganondorf? For help slaying the Dodongo I mean," Link glanced up, only to see Darunia staring at him as if he were crazy.

"Are you kidding?" He asked with a small chuckle, "Ganondorf would have told us to screw right off! In fact, he probably would have sent soldiers to fight _for_ the Dodongo just for asking," He shook his head wistfully, laughing at his own joke. Link blinked up at the man in surprise, though still Darunia paid no heed as he repeated, "Hell no, we kept as far away from that mess as possible."

Link fake laughed as he too stood up, eagerly changing the subject to something much more menial, like what room he was going to sleep in once they got back to Goron City. The pleasant air around them still somehow felt heavy with the knowledge that Link would soon be fighting an unfair battle against the same monsters that had been responsible for killing so many of Darunia's people. Consciously choosing to forget a few select parts of the conversation that had just transpired, he realized that he really did need a decent nights sleep on his side if he had any chance of surviving those things. He hated to admit it, but his confidence _was_ wavering slightly.

However, that didn't mean he wasn't still gonna go down there and kick as much fiery tail as possible. He wasn't sure _why_ exactly he wanted to do this so badly, maybe it started out as a matter of pride but something _else_ inside of him was pushing him into those caves. In the pit of his stomach, he held an unwavering sense of curiosity at the whole situation that wasn't quite satisfied just by understanding the Hylian-Goron relations. He'd had a strange suspicious feeling since the beginning. A feeling that, maybe he wouldn't have to destroy _all_ the Dodongo, in fact maybe he wouldn't even need to kill any.

If experience had taught him anything, it was very possible there was something else inside of those caves causing all of this, and Link felt obligated to find it.

* * *

**A/N Soooo how'd you all like it? I warned ya about the dialogue, it had to happen I tried my best /:**

**Next chapter- Dodongo's Cavern(obviously)! So if you liked the Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly chapter, the next one is definitely for you!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N**

**Hello my lovely readers!**

**Woo this chapter was a b to write. Sorry I didn't get it out in three weeks, but is anyone really surprised? I do try not to be a disappointment, it just happens.**

**She's long though, hopefully that makes up for it. I think updates once a month seem do-able, but college is a thing that sometimes gets in the way. Which is usually why it takes me so long.**

**This chapter is really action-y, like I promised. I hope you all like it! I've had the last scene in my head almost since I came up with this whole idea. I really do think this chapter is a good ending to this part of the story.**

**Still, I can't even express to you have excited I am for the next chapter. It will mark a change in direction(again), that isn't just following Link and Zelda as they have random adventures all around Hyrule. They FINALLY make it back to castle town next chapter! You know what that means~**

**You actually have no idea what that means, but I do, and you'll like it. Trust me.**

**A whole bunch of new characters are going to be introduced next chapter too, most are from the game itself.**

**Until then my dear patient readers, please enjoy this installment of The Hero of Thieves! (which I still might rename) (:**

* * *

The cool morning air whooshed across Death Mountain's elevated rock face, stinging the few spots of exposed skin on Link's body with its chilling bite. The Gerudo shivered despite himself, staring into the mouth of the cave with a somewhat eerie feeling. The sun had just begun to rise over Hyrule, and its rays wouldn't be gracing this part of the mountain until a little before sunset. That left him approximately six hours to somehow kill every Dodongo inside the cavern before they came out to sun themselves on the rocks late that afternoon.

It also left him roughly six hours to devise some sort of plan. Since, despite the overwhelming confidence he displayed earlier, he was shit out of ideas. After all, operating on pure luck hadn't failed him yet, and who was he to question that?

After a moment's hesitation and a silent pep talk, Link sucked in a quick, icy breath, and began his descent into the caves. Massaging his thumbs over his palms in anticipation, he allowed the tunnel's darkness to fully envelop him. The sound of his boots crunching against the rocky ground was his only solace as he was swallowed by the abyss.

Yet for all of his focused determination, Link failed to realize that he wasn't as alone as previously thought. While his figure submerged itself into the vast cavern, another surfaced only a few moments later, closely tailing the unsuspecting man with an entirely _different_ target in mind.

A welcomed combination of light and heat did not take long to grace Link's eager form as he continued deeper into the mountain. As he found himself in a large central room, he noticed that an orange glow illuminated the entire cave, strongly shining from a perpetual bank of lava flowing between the rocks beneath him. He peered over the edge for a moment, quietly noting to himself to watch his step as he witnessed the liquified magma bubble around him.

Of the many paths that offered themselves up in the cave complex, Link began his mission by choosing one at complete random; strolling cautiously along into an almost intentional-seeming route. Honestly, Link found himself wondering what kind of evil geniuses carved this thing. It just went on and on continuously, with more and more pathways opening up as possible trails. It seemed almost impossible to reach the end, as no matter how deep Link ventured, there were always more options for him to press forward.

After walking uneventfully through these never-ending caves for quite some time, the Gerudo's slight agitation had pushed him over the edge into full-on paranoia.

"Where the _hell_ are all the Dodongo," Link muttered to himself bitterly as he watched a few Keese flap by, automatically reaching for his sword at the unpleasant sound. "Didn't the Goron start to _call_ this damn place Dodongo's cavern? I mean seriously-_AH_!"

Another sound, this time close beside him, caused Link to whip out his bow and arrow at an alarmingly fast rate, loading and firing in the general direction of the noise almost robotically.

He let out a shaky sigh when the unlucky Fire-Keese behind him squealed its last high-pitched squeal, and dropped to the ground lifelessly.

"Goddess damn it!" Link practically shouted, slamming his fist into the smoothly-etched cave wall, his excessive tension forcing him to punch something.

The walls around him immediately began to buckle, showering dust and pebbles down in a light wave. Link froze, this display doing nothing to settle his nerves. The cave walls eventually began to settle themselves, and Link hesitantly pulled his hand away from them. Of course the place was unstable. He was in a freaking _active_ volcano for Goddess sake. Though just as he started to force himself forward once more, another thing caught his heightened attention.

Slithering down the opposite end of the path at an unsettlingly fast speed, was a mob of foot-long, lizard-like creatures, each making a chorus of hissing noises at the unwelcome guest. Their bodies were green and plated, though still appeared soft enough for regular weapons to work on them as they slid their way closer. Link swiftly unsheathed his sword, taken slightly aback when the mob of small lizards began to leap out at him, their toothless mouths extended as if planning to bite him. Link cut expertly with his weapon, chopping the many creatures backwards and away from him with only one hit each before they were defeated. They had a surprisingly small amount of endurance for creatures that lived in a freaking _active_ volcano. It didn't take long to dispose of the surprise nuisances, and for a few moments, he was left staring at their oddly familiar forms with an ominous feeling.

That was right about when everything started blowing up.

Link was no-where near prepared when the load of lizards he had killed began simultaneously detonating. The already unsteady cave-walls buckled instantly, shaking violently with each explosion. Large rocks and spires started to fall all around him, and as the defeated creatures kept blowing up with no sign of stopping, it became prevalent that the roof itself was going to give. Link realized a bit too late that the Dodongo weren't actually just born giant lizard monsters. They were born slightly smaller lizard monsters with no legs and no teeth.

Cursing wildly, Link spun himself around and began sprinting out of the collapsing cove as quickly as his feet could take him. The falling rocks narrowly missed his form multiple times as he tore through the crumbling path, refusing to look back. By some divine stroke of luck, Link quickly found himself back in a larger open chamber that remained relatively unaffected by the previous explosions, and wasn't falling apart. He stumbled on to the ground when he finally made his way out of the tunnel, a particularly sizable boulder crashing down a few seconds after him, effectively sealing that pathway permanently. Link hunched his body over, hands on his knees as he panted for various reasons.

"Always assume _everything will explode after you kill it_," Link hissed to himself, catching his breath from his mad dash. The only consolation that that fiasco had brought him, was that now he had at least defeated _some_ Dodongo. Even if they were miniature.

Link instantly found himself questioning the logic of those creatures, if they even possessed such a thing. Why did the Goron even want this place?! The Dodongo were living in an essential death trap! Honestly, what were they thinking? One of those puppies dies in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the entire volcano could shift, or worse collapse, and crush every single one of-

Link's eyes widened in sudden understanding.

Bingo.

The plan slowly trickled into Link's mind as he caught his breath. _All_ he had to do was lure the majority of the Dodongo into a small part of the caves, seal off the entrances, and collapse that part of the cavern while somehow escaping himself. It was simple really.

See, he knew coming into this prepared was useless.

Link let out one last long puff of air before straightening himself back up, determination coursing through him. As for how he would avoid being crushed when the time came… well… obviously he would figure that out when he got there. The Gerudo King grinned to himself a little cockily.

"I'm still a freaking genius," he complimented himself, scanning the immediate area for a new path to take. He had just decided on a tunnel on the opposite end of the room, when he noticed something suspicious.

Link had calmed his breathing down to normal level, but in the otherwise empty cave, he could have _sworn_ he heard something else breathing heavily. The noise was slightly choppy, implying that whatever-it-was was purposely trying to stay quiet and remain undetected. The uncomfortable feeling of being watched overtook the Gerudo as he tried to look as though he was unaware of the noise, taking a few steps forward and toward his desired path.

As he moved about the room, he was able to roughly pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Somewhere to the south-west portion of the confined space, something was definitely observing him. Link casually began to lift his arm, as if to scratch his face. Then, in an exceedingly fast movement, expertly slipped his bow off of his back and into firing stance, removing an arrow from its holster in the same swift motion. He pivoted on his heel, firing in the direction of the sound without a moment's hesitation.

To Link's surprise however, the arrow did not hit its intended target. Instead, the creature made a high pitched '_eek!'_ noise, and ducked it's golden head down behind one of the caves many spires that littered the ground, before the weapon had the chance to pierce its form. Thus, Link's misfired arrow was left to sail into the cave wall with a frustrated thump.

Instead of reloading his bow however, Link froze. A dull realization began to set in as he stared at the rock that obstructed the unknown creature from his vision, a blank expression adorning his features. After a few exaggeratedly long moments, he heard scuttling behind the hiding spot, followed by a small mound finally revealing itself as it tried to crawl away from the Gerudo undetected.

"…is…" Link began, the creature stopped scuttling immediately, as if freezing would act as some sort of camouflage. "Zelda…?" Link breathed out in confusion, his brow furrowing to depths he didn't even know were possible.

The princess lifted her head slowly when she heard her name, nervously offering Link a smile as he stared her down with an increasingly enraged expression twisting up his face.

"Oh… Link," Was all she managed to say in response, standing up and dusting herself off in a dignified manner, as if she hadn't been rolling around on the ground only a moment ago. "I was… looking for you."

"… Well," Link eventually spoke after an uncomfortable bout of silence, "ya found me," He said lowly, still completely unmoving as he eyed the fidgeting princess.

"Quite right," Zelda cleared her throat before continuing, "so… how's the mission going?"

"Princess," Link interjected as if he was about to ask her a question, clenching his jaw tightly as he carefully strapped his bow back into place.

"Ah, yes?" Zelda replied meekly, holding her hands in front of her body in an innocent fashion.

"What-" Link cleared his throat "Are you _doing here_?!" he finally broke out into a yell, gesturing aggressively to the cave around them as he did so.

"Now, Link," Zelda started carefully. She actually almost seemed more comfortable now that he had lost his temper, and had relaxed into her default 'holier-than-thou' demeanor. "First, you need to calm down, an-"

"Calm down?! _Calm down_?! _I am the perfect level of calm_!" Link shouted, his eyes practically bulging out of his head in a way that showed he was actually, very not-calm. "What were you _thinking_! No you _weren't _thinking! You did this just to prove a point, didn't you! You stubborn little-you could have gotten yourself killed! I could have killed you _just now_! How did you even get here?! Were you following me?! Where are the Gorons? Aren't you there prisoner?! I specifically told them to keep you under-"

"_Link_!" Zelda interrupted sternly. She too seemed to be getting angry, which of course upset Link further, "You're in no position to point fingers," She told him, nodding to his wildly moving hands which were doing a lot of literal pointing, "I'm not the one who wasn't thinking, _you're_ the one who blindly charged in here, _alone,_ on a suicide mission! And for that matter, you tried to pawn me off as a hostage! Also, why were you shooting blindly aways? Would it kill you to double check whether or not whatever you're about to impale with an arrow is actually a threat?"

"Oh excuse me for assuming there weren't any friendly monsters tracking me in this _hostile Dodongo infested environment_," Link challenged sarcastically, before shaking his head in utter disbelief, too frustrated to even continue yelling, "I don't have time to baby sit you right now Zelda, alright? Get the hell out of here."

"Baby sit?!" The princess echoed in disgust, "If anyone is doing the babysitting around here it's most certainly me! I _had_ to follow you to make sure you didn't do anything rash and stupid. And guess what, you've been in here an hour and you've _already_ almost killed yourself," Zelda shook her head disapprovingly, "Really Link? Those creatures didn't look the least bit _familiar_ to you?"

"Hey… shut up," Link retorted cleverly, pointing his finger at her angrily, "I'm serious Zelda, if you don't get out of here right now, I'm going to have to remove you by force."

"Oh _really_," The princess questioned, calling his bluff as she placed her hands on her hips, "And how do you intend to do that?"

Link was so upset with her at this point, he was really starting to wish that arrow had hit its mark. The Gerudo unclenched his fists, stomping toward Zelda in a silent rage. The princess blinked up at him, surprised as he roughly grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her the direction he thought he remembered coming from. She was taken off guard for a moment by his rather physical approach.

"Link! You're hurting-Ah! Stop it!" She complained as he yanked her along, "Unhand me at once!" She demanded now, more forcefully. Link ignored her, eyes locked forward as he continued to pull her out of the caves. "Link so help me if you do not unhand me then-" The princess started to struggle in his grasp, "then, th-then our deal is off, and you are no longer my escort!"

That made him stop walking.

The Gerudo froze, glancing down at the princess almost murderously as he loosened his grip. She quickly ripped herself away from him, staring him down unflinchingly.

"_What_?" He asked chillingly, as though he didn't believe her.

"I _said_," Zelda began condescendingly, "if you force me to leave, then I will have no choice but to refuse to grant you citizenship, and strip you of your unofficial title as my escort, under charge of disobeying a direct order of the Hyrule monarchy."

"Yeah I _heard_ what you said," Link practically spat in irritation. But the man was at a crossroads. If he _didn't_ take Zelda out of the cavern, then he would have to worry about her getting killed and jeopardizing his mission. If he _did_ take her out of the cavern however, he wouldn't even have a mission to jeopardize. The Princess stared at him with an open air of smugness surrounding her pretty little form.

Yeah, he definitely wished that arrow hit her.

"You _really_ think that's a good idea right now," Link asked through gritted teeth, "you think I've just been helping you all this time out of chivalry? We had a deal _Princess,_ and threatening to break that deal, alone, in a cave, with _just me?_" Link shook his head at her, "That's a dangerous game, Zelda." He intended for his words to be intimidating as he and the princess continued their starting contest, his look of pure rage certainly not doing any harm to his facade.

Zelda however, seemed utterly unfazed by his vague threats. "I'm staying," she said with a slow and deliberate voice, as if scolding a child, "And that is final."

Unfortunately, it appeared that Link's last ditch strategy didn't help his crossroads situation in the slightest.

"Fine," Link snapped, "Do whatever you want Princess, see if I care," he replied stubbornly, overall refusing to let the brat get her way. "But you aren't 'stripping me of my title,' I _quit_. I don't want your stupid citizenship. Stay here and get killed, by all means." He told her, brushing past her disrespectfully as he made his way back into the previous room. The Princess stared after him wide eyed, clearly not expecting that turn of events.

He didn't look back at her, though he did hear the light padding of footsteps quickly following after him.

"Link-" Zelda tried, reaching for the angry Gerudo, though he was having none of it. He sped up his pace, ignoring her protests as he tore madly throughout the caves.

"Link!" Zelda called after him, practically running to keep up with him, "Look I came to _help_ you because I was…" She trailed off as she tried to find a better way of wording her excuse, "This whole thing was only done for your best interest," Zelda told him as she looked down uncomfortably, "Granted I wasn't planning on you seeing me unless it was an emergency but I- oh for Nayru's sake- _Link!"_

The infuriated Gerudo tried his best to tune out the Princess' incessant jabbering about who knows what as he stalked along. True, he was essentially forgoing his mission in favor of his wounded pride, but this turn of events caused Link to have tunnel vision for one thing only: proving the princess wrong.

xxx

"Look to your left, he's preparing a tail swoop!" Zelda called. She was a relatively safe distance from the three Dodongo currently posing a threat to Link. He, unsurprisingly, didn't make any motions to show that he heard her, though did immediately leap up into the air and over the monsters dangerous tail as it swung beneath him.

Zelda was on edge. These were the first fully grown Dodongo they came across, and there were even more over on the other side of the long room, though they had yet to take notice of the fighting. The princess wanted ever so badly to help, but she wasn't even sure if Link was taking her advice or not.

"Ah, the one to your right is going to strike," She told him quickly, "Ignore that other one, he has a few seconds of a time gap before he's charged enough to release the fire!"

Link however, possibly out of spite, ignored this suggestion and kept his eyes trained on the Dodongo directly in front of him, which was sucking in air for another burst of flames. However, this lapse in judgement caused him to be knocked off balance by the impending threat Zelda had just mentioned, forcing him to roll out of the way of the other Dodongo's fire, and miss his opportunity to attack.

"Really Link," Zelda inquired of the the stubborn man sarcastically as he bounced back onto his feet, closer to her. He clearly looked more than agitated by the way things were going, with his teeth tightly clenched and his face scrunched in a mix of anger and determination. He was gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly, Zelda thought he might actually break the handle.

Obviously Link ignored her again, throwing himself back into the fray without a moment's hesitation. Zelda wondered if it would almost be better for her to keep quiet. No doubt he would have blocked that other attack if he had noticed it before she did. He was going to get himself killed just to prove a point!

She saw the two Dodongo on either side of him preparing for another fire attack, while the Dodongo Link was engaged with was too distracted to do so. The Princess bit her tongue, but still watched the scene unfold anxiously. Link seemed aware of all three monsters surrounding him, and almost appeared to be working on turning the Dodongo's trap against them.

Zelda's suspicion proved correct, when as soon as the two Dodongo to his sides released their firepower, Link leaped into the air and onto the back of one of the monsters. The Dodongo he had been previously engaging had also been lead between the two streams of fire. Though unlike Link, it couldn't jump out of the way.

Zelda watched, impressed as Link managed to trick the creatures into unabashedly burning down their comrade, while he swiftly killed the other monster he landed on by breaking its neck with his sword. Thank Farore he finally learned his lesson from the previous two fights, because Link didn't waste time trying to go after the final Dodongo. Instead, he leaped off the back of his defeated foe as quickly as possible, and started racing toward where Zelda had been watching.

The Princess also started running swiftly in this direction, Link tailing her closely behind. They knew exactly when the Monsters detonated, as the explosion shook the entire cave complex, one right after the other. The first tremor merely caused Zelda to stumble for a moment, but the second was so forceful that she flat out tripped and fell forwards. The Princess curled into a ball and covered her head under the slight falling debris, which luckily wasn't more than a few small rocks and a lot of dust. To her surprise, Link also stopped with her, crouching in a similar method.

Once the cavern calmed down, Zelda let out a breath of relief, before looking at Link who had his eyes focused elsewhere, panting from their sprint.

"You can't intend to do that _every time_ can you?" Zelda asked softly, trying her hardest not to sound condescending at risk of peeving him off again. Once again to her complete shock, Link actually made eye contact.

But if the man was going to say anything to her, he didn't get the chance. The cavern suddenly rippled violently, in a far more aggressive manner than they had ever before. Slightly larger rocks were falling now and Zelda cowered back into her ball, not seeing Link under the haze of dust that was once again kicked up. Terror overtook her momentarily as it was clear that the cave was threatening to collapse.

The rest of the Dodongo that got crushed in the explosion had must have also detonated, and caused a massive tremor in the mountain. Besides potentially destroying the entire caves, and therefore them, this could _also_ mean the tremor would upset the volcano enough for it to have a full-on eruption.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rumbling of the cavern finally ceased, as did the falling rocks and dust cloud. Zelda began to cough uncomfortably as she waved the rock particles out of her vision.

"Are you okay?!" Link's voice chimed in unexpectedly, and Zelda let out an immediate sigh of relief.

"Yes, I'm fine thank you," she replied as the dust cleared enough to show a discombobulated Link, who actually seemed remotely concerned for her safety. At least that was a good sign for reconciliation.

The Princess cleared her throat, sitting up from the ground in a more dignified manner. "There has to be a better way Link, this is far too dangerous," She prompted gently, silently praying to the goddesses that he would actually listen to her for once. Link just shot her an annoyed look.

"Actually, I was hoping to do more damage than that," he told her in a matter-of-fact fashion. Zelda raised an eyebrow hesitantly.

"What do you mean _more_ damage?"

Link didn't reply, instead he shrugged, clearly trying to show that he was still upset at her presence there. This was when a dreadful sense of understanding set in for Zelda.

"Link," she began, watching as the man stood up and started brushing off the dust from his clothes absentmindedly. "You aren't planning on _collapsing the caves_… are you?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "So what if I am," He challenged.

"You have to be out of your mind if you think that's a good plan!" She shouted back, feeling panicked. Link once again seemed frustrated with her.

"Well if you don't like it, then you should _leave_!" He demanded, gesturing for her to go forward and exit the tunnel. The Princess shook her head wildly at him.

"Listen… " She trailed off with a cautionary tone. She couldn't even believe how upset he got over her following him. She'd never seen him so angry with her, and his default _emotion_ was angry. But _this _was going beyond petty arguments. This was insane. "It's not a good idea," she affirmed. "Why do you think the Goron never tried it? The Dodongo are so hard to take care of because it's too dangerous to kill them in here! You could get crushed at any time!"

"I don't need to collapse the _entire_ cavern," he defended, "if I can just seal most of the Dodongo in here, then they'll eventually die and it won't be a problem," Link rolled his eyes at Zelda's shocked face upon hearing his plan, "look I know what I'm doing," he assured her.

"No you clearly do _not_!" Zelda refuted passionately, "We are inside of a volcano! If you disturb the cave matrix in here too intensely, it can create a ripple effect and cause the volcano to viciously explode!" She warned him, while Link simply scoffed at her fear.

"Death Mountain erupts all the time," He said dismissively, "And because it's so lopsided, It always travels down the uninhabited left side, and doesn't really cause any damage," He challenged her with a glare as he spoke, "I'm not an idiot Zelda, I-"

"Those are _micro_ eruptions; superficial releases of the top layer of lava. What you're planning could cause something as detrimental as a Plinian Eruption!" Zelda told him quickly. Link eyed her with a strange look of confusion.

"Yeeeah I don't-"

"Which is an eruption that clears the volcanic cavity of _all_ of its lava. That means the explosion would hit Goron City, Kakariko Village, and even travel all the way into Hyrule field! And don't even get me started on the effects of Carbon Dioxide emissions!" She finished, talking at an alarmingly fast rate. Link blinked at her in surprise.

"Oh… " He managed after a moment, before crossing his arms over his chest in a display of annoyance. "Well why didn't you just say so from the beginning."

The princess let out a sigh of irritation as she stared up at him, but chose not to dignify his last comment with a direct response. "Do you see how fragile this whole situation truly is now?" she began, shaking her head lightly, "I would have discussed this with you had you actually _consulted_ me before locking me away with the Goron, and then plunging into this head first," she chastised, crossing her arms over her chest. Link couldn't help himself from grinning, his initial anger at her being there clearly beginning to fade.

"I probably could have come at this a little more prepared," he admitted with his reluctant smile, before becoming more serious once again, "But that doesn't mean you should have followed me in here. If you died, who would be the next Queen of Hyrule?" Zelda looked down at her shoes uncomfortably as Link continued on. He had a point, but her whole goal of coming in here was to safely convince him to leave with her. She wasn't planning on him blowing everything up. "What were you even thinking? I gotta say, by the amount of how many dumb things you've done since I met you, your triforce piece should have ditched you a long time ago." Zelda glared up at him.

"You wouldn't have let _me_ go at this alone," She told him matter-of-factly. "So why would I let you?"

Link actually seemed confused for a second, as if considering the idea of role reversal. After a few moments, he eventually began to shake his head slowly in the negative. "That's different," He told her.

"How is it different?" Zelda demanded, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Because it…" Link sighed, clearly fed up with this conversation, "It just is, okay Zelda. Didn't you listen to a word I just said? You're the Princess. I think it's a literal law that I have to come to your aid in situations like this," He pointed out. Zelda pursed her lips.

"Well I certainly wasn't going to just sit idly by and allow my escort to get himself _killed_," She retorted with a reprimanding tone. Link once again rolled his eyes at her, and let out an exasperated puff of air.

"We're going in circles," He remarked. Zelda, for once, couldn't argue with that as she nodded slightly in agreement, "and for the _hundredth_ time, I know what I'm-"

Whatever Link was going to say was cut short by another rumbling of the caves, which caused the two Hylians to freeze simultaneously. This time however, the shake was very slight and short, as if a bolder had just shifted a few tunnels over. The real nervousness began to set in for the both of them, when the tunnel shook again in the same manner, and then once more, and again, in clear succession with a few seconds interval in between each rumble. Link and Zelda stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Shit," Link half-whispered, as if talking too loudly would cause the roof to collapse. "Is the volcano going to… " He trailed off, not daring to say the word, but Zelda got the point.

"I don't think so," The princess told him, braving moving around cautiously as she spoke, "The tremors are periodic and light, this wouldn't be what was happening if Death Mountain was erupting," she confirmed. Link looked visibly relieved, but Zelda was still on high alert as she continued, "These ripples are more as if something huge was-"

"Moving?" Link finished for her, curiosity suddenly peaked. To Zelda's chagrin, the man actually began walking forward and toward where the rumbling appeared to be coming from, reaching for the sword strapped to his back as he did so.

"Link!" Zelda started in that same tone she had been using right before she told him he was being irrational. This of course prompted Pavlovian response of ignoring everything she said afterword. "We need to get out of here _now_. You don't know what's causing these tremors, and you don't have a plan for when you find out," She told him, once again running up next to him.

"Are you kidding Zelda?" Link was at least responsive now as he turned the corner. The princess could feel the vibrations getting more powerful as they walked, and also began to notice small patches of dust sprinkling from the cave roof. "This is _exactly_ what I was hopping for," he told her, eagerness lacing his tone, "Ya know, something suspicious that I can kill."

"What if you _can't_ kill it?" Zelda asked fearfully. Link stopped walking for a moment.

"Zelda," He scoffed, "please," he gave her a confident half smile as he continued on.

"I'm serious Link," She prompted, "you don't know what you're up against! I only have enough magic energy for one Nayru's Love spell, I can't protect you from a gigantic mob of Dodongo all at once!" Her nerves were kicking into overdrive as the tremors began to get even more aggressive. Whatever was causing this, they'd almost reached it.

"First off, _you_ protect _me_?" Link had started to slow down as he also noticed they were only a few crucial yards away from the disruptive force, whatever that might have been. "I still really want you to get out of here and let me handle this, and second-" He held up a hand to silence her before she could shout something along the lines of 'I'm not leaving unless you come with me!' He looked at her curiously as he continued, "Nayru's love? Was that the glow-y blue thing that saved us from the explosion yesterday?"

"Yes," Zelda nodded, anxiously fiddling with her fingers, "That's the name of the spell."

"Perfect!" Link exclaimed, ceasing their walking so that he could better debrief her on their game plan, "Then you can just hang out in that bubble thing while I deal with whatever's waiting up ahead."

She shook her head in the negative, "that's not how magic works. The longer I have the barrier up, the more exhausted I get. Right now, if I kept the spell going for more than two minutes I would risk fainting," she admitted. Link's face fell as understanding set in.

"Is that why you didn't use any magic when that Goron almost flattened you yesterday," He asked as though he had been wondering about that for some time now. Zelda couldn't really blame him.

"Yes that's precisely why, I was drained from earlier that day," she confirmed. Link now appeared more hesitant, but didn't exactly know what to make of her power's usefulness. She was about to offer another suggestion before something more pressing had caught their attention.

"_RRRRRRRRRAAAHHH!"_

The sudden noise practically gave Zelda a full on heart attack as it ripped throughout the otherwise quiet tunnels, sounding almost like it came from _directly_ in front of them. The cave's periodic shakes ceased in their steady beating after the noise, leaving the two Hylians to panic in silence. The chain of events caused the princess to inch her way toward her escort in fear.

It remained eerily silent.

All at once, a cave wall to the side of them broke open with unexplained velocity. Link yanked Zelda toward him in order to properly cover her head, and the pair huddled into each other as a shower of rocks buffeted them. Even after the cavern stilled, Zelda dared not open her eyes as she felt Link's grip on her loosen.

"_Holy_ Mother of-"

"_RRRRRRRRRAAAHHH!"_

This forced Zelda to snap out of it, feeling an aggressive gust of wind accompanying the roar, that blew back her clothes and hair wildly. She found herself grabbing at the sword Link had given her before they climbed Death Mountain a day prior, as if it would offer her _any_ solace against this monster.

Only a few feet in front of them stood the second largest creature Zelda had ever seen. It's body was iron plated in dark gray matter, as if wearing a gigantic suit of armor. Its enormous head extended into multiple plated horns, one long horn made of bone housing the center, in a pattern that continued all the way down its back. It's roar revealed ferocious teeth and an obscenely large mouth, with two particularly threatening fangs protruding from the almost snake-like bottom jaw. Crystalline rock structures grew off of its shoulder blades, gleaming under the light of the lava. The monster stood proudly on four legs, with beady blue eyes that glinted a pupil-less stare down at the frozen Hylians.

"_Run!"_ Link shouted suddenly, and though Zelda didn't have much of a grasp on what was happening, she understood that much.

The monster made its first attack, lifting its huge body upwards in order to stomp down on the helpless Hylians. Zelda and Link both disbanded as quickly as they possibly could, running in two different directions to avoid getting crushed. When the beast landed, it shook the caves with a ferocity that caused the Princess to stumble onto the ground, watching helplessly as more huge rocks tumbled down around the wall that the monster had just broken though, effectively sealing their exit.

Oh sweet Nayru they were trapped in here now weren't they.

The chamber was sizable and round, with a particularly threatening lake of lava bubbling in the center, taking up most of the area. Solid ground encircled the lake fully, but while Zelda looked around in panic, she couldn't seem to find another exit. They were completed trapped in there with that thing.

Much to the Princess' dismay, the beast turned its steely blue gaze upon her, as it began to thump toward her with that same steady beat she and Link had been tracking only a few moments ago. She scrambled to get up, clutching her sword in front of her tightly as she tried to think of a plan. Though how could she properly predict and analyze the creature's behavior, without having _any_ idea of what it was. The monster let out another deafening scream as Zelda simply stood there like a deer in torchlight.

"Hey, _Hey!_ Over here Ugly!" A few arrows fired themselves near the creature's neck, causing it to shake its head irritatedly, turning slightly toward the source of the nuisance. "*Your mother was a salamander!" Link shouted to the monster, which apparently offended it enough to furiously roar in response. The beast spun itself around quite swiftly for its size, facing Link head on with dangerous anger gleaming in its gaze. To her, this action felt somehow… similar to that of another creature in the tunnels. But, that theory was impossible, unless…

"Oh Shi-" Link began, turning on his heels and booking it away from the creature that was now hot on his tail. This was a wise decision, as just as Link started to run, the monster curled itself into a massive ball, and began to roll after him with frightening speed.

Zelda shook herself out of her surprised trance. How was Link so adaptable to these things?! Two minutes ago they were chatting idly in a cave and now _this?!_

No, the princess had to be useful. She refused to lend herself as a distraction to Link on the battlefield, she was much too prideful for that. Zelda made this mental decision just as Link was completing his lap around the room with the ever increasing speeding ball pelting after him. Zelda was _really_ shaken from her trance when Link, still sprinting, grabbed hold of the wide-eyed Princess' arm and tugged her along beside him at his exceedingly fast pace.

The Princess did her best to match his step evenly, but as she stole a glance behind them, she realized that there was no way they could outrun this thing. They would have to outsmart it.

Link began to turn the next corner, but Zelda put up a resistance, forcing their bodies to continue forwards and toward the wall. Link looked down at her in flushed panic, but she was quick to a breathy: "Just trust me!" Uncertainty flashed in the man's eyes, but he did as instructed and allowed Zelda to lead them full speed into the wall.

In the last moment before the two Hylians smashed themselves across the rocks, Zelda made a quick pivot, brushing the wall with her shoulder as she and Link sprinted out of the way of their impending doom. The rolling ball had no way to stop itself in the same short amount of time that the two smaller bodies of mass had, just as Zelda predicted. Instead, the monster smacked into the side of the cave at full speed, sending a shower of large boulders down around and on top of it, injuring the beast even more. The pair stopped running, catching their breath in a limited amount of time before Link unsheathed his sword and shield.

He ran over to the slumped over monster's body, immediately thrashing at the animal's lower neck with as many strokes as he could manage. It was impressive to witness really, how quickly Link maneuvered with a sword, and how fearlessly he took on the beast. It howled in pain a few times, before eventually summoning the energy to lift itself back up again and blow Link away from it with a well-placed tail swoop. He slid backward on his heels, shield up just in case the monster got more physical.

Unfortunately, this attack only proceeded to enrage the creature even further, causing it to release that same gut-wrenching sound out of its vocal chords as it faced the two Hylians head on.

"My sword didn't do that much damage, its skin is hard as rock," Link admitted, eyes still trained on the monster. Zelda was too busy inspecting where the creature had crashed into the wall to offer a reply. In a divine stroke of luck, Zelda noticed that the crash had created a small crater in the wall, enough for Link and Zelda to fit through, certainly. The only issue was that there happened to be a gigantic beast blocking their only way out of the cave. And who knew how long that exit would be an option, what with how easily these caverns shifted. The princess was about to divulge this information to her escort, when she noticed that they had more pressing problems.

"Zelda…" Link trailed cautiously, eyes still looked on the monster. She followed his gaze, understanding his hesitancy immediately.

They both watched as the creature took in a massive gulp of air, its jaw almost unhinging it opened so wide. The pull of the air current was so strong that, even from the relative distance that they were away from it, Zelda felt like she was a few steps away from getting swept up by the pressure and swallowed whole, just as she had with Lord Jabu-Jabu only a few days prior. The sensation felt eerily similar as she tried her best to remain grounded. The creature inhaled for a frightfully long time, in which Link and Zelda had already deduced what was going to happen, and began scurrying out of the way as soon as the pull of the air current was small enough to allow them to.

The two Hylians had barely gotten out of the way in time, when it happened. A vehement of fire exploded out of the creature's mouth, the inferno traveling almost all the way to the other side of the room. Link and Zelda continued to rush off to the side, feeling the temperature increase significantly behind them. Luckily, the monster did not have the ability to turn its body while it released the torrent of flames, that being the last straw in confirming Zelda's original theory.

"That thing it's a-a-" She began, shouting to Link over the roar of the flames that was still going on, much longer than the smaller versions could ever hope to accomplish.

"Dodongo," Link finished for her, his voice so low that she could only understand the word by reading his lips.

Zelda nodded her head, "It must be their king, like how bee hives have a queen, isolated in the heart of the volcano for protection," she theorized. Link kept his eyes on the King Dodongo as the fire storm finally quelled, and it turned its body to face the Hylians once again. It let out another screech, this one so loud and high pitched while it reverberated around the room, that it forced Zelda to place her hands against her ears just to muffle it.

"He's injured, he's not gonna try that rolling trick anytime soon," Link told her as the King Dodongo snarled at them from his significant distance away. Link was right, the Overgrown Dodongo didn't seem to have plans of moving anytime soon.

"Do you think he's purposely guarding the exit?" Zelda asked nervously, afraid to think that their gigantic foe had already thought that far ahead. It really wanted nothing more than to kill them.

"Exit?" Link repeated, finally taking his eyes off the beast in order to briefly glance at the princess in surprise. "What exit?"

Zelda recalled how she had neglected to share that information, "When the Dodongo crashed, he created a hole in the wall that's large enough for us to escape from," she reported, watching as Link strained to look behind the creature and confirm with his own eyes. The gap in the wall was impossible to see at this angle, but judging by how defensive the King Dodongo was over that particular spot, Link decidedly chose to believe her.

"We've got to move him," Zelda stated the obvious, hoping Link would finally see the prevalence of _both_ of them getting out of there while they still could. The man's gaze hardened.

"We're going to to better than that," he remarked coldly, "We're gonna kill him."

Zelda whipped her head around to face Link, completely bewildered at his intentions. There was determined, and then there was just plain foolish. Link was certainly behaving as the latter.

"Are you out of your mind?" Zelda demanded, pointing at the Dodongo as started to take another intake of breath, facing the two Hylians. Though they were quite some distance away, they could still feel the pull of the air, and Link and Zelda swiftly scattered away from the monsters line of fire.

"I think I have a plan!" Link shouted to her while the tips of the flames thundered next to them, "it's risky though," he admitted, eyes trailing back to the beast.

"Dare I ask?" Zelda half whined. This whole idea was risky from the start, so she was sure it couldn't be too much worse than their situation to begin with. Link grinned at the inflection in her tone, before strapping his shield onto his back and holding the now free hand out toward Zelda.

"Gimme your sword," he requested, gesturing to the object in her hand. Zelda immediately decided she disliked the plan, holding the metal object closer to her in annoyance.

"I'm not running away while you distract the Dodongo!" She snapped at him, angling her body away from his hand just in case he tried to snatch it from her. Link let out a quick irritated sigh.

"I'm not gonna-" he tried, before shaking his head in exasperation and looking the princess in the eyes with a stern gaze. "Do you trust me?" He asked suddenly, his stare burning into hers as he waited for her response. Zelda bit her lip and glanced down at the sword in her hand. Unfortunately, the answer to his question was a definitive yes.

She groaned as she handed the weapon over, causing him to smirk slightly. He took the sword is hand and twirled it a few times in order to get used to the feel of the object over his shield. The princess couldn't help but feel a twinge of admiration as she watched Link hold his duel swords. He had a refined posture no matter what weapons he held, but with the duel swords, Link looked downright _threatening_, even to her. After a few moments, he turned his attention to Zelda, both of them noting the fact that the Dodongo was preparing to shoot another gust of fire their way as they circled about the room once more.

"Remember that time we got sucked up into the Jabu-Jabu?" Link asked suddenly as they got to a safe distance from the flames. Zelda's eyes widened as the full weight of his plan threaded itself together in her mind.

"You can't be serious," she stammered, but unfortunately it appeared he was, "There are _explosive_ substances in his body Link! It's far too dangerous to go in there!" Link ignored her protests, gesturing for her to follow as he started to inch his way closer to the King Dodongo, which was too wrapped up it its current flame-throwing to do anything about it. Zelda ruefully obeyed.

"When I say so, I'm gonna need you to do that spell around the both of us, alright?" They were only a few yards from the monster now, the closest than they had been since it first crashed through the wall. Zelda watched in horror as its trail of fire began to lesson, and its vicious eyes had already began following the pair. "That way we'll be safe from whatever acidic-explosive-corrosive-shit might be in his stomach," he looked down at her with a reassuring smile, "After all, you said it yourself. The Dodongo's insides are a lot softer than their outsides."

"I didn't mean let's _go_ inside!" Zelda protested, but still let out a shaky sigh as she accepted her fate. Link's attention had been recaptured by the King Dodongo as it finally drained itself of all of its fire power. It wasted no time spinning around to face them, likely thinking the pair was planning on running past him and through to the exit. Considering his huge tail was blocking their escape route, this seemed like an unnecessary concern.

Link wrapped one arm around Zelda's waste, his duel sword positioned out in front of her. She gulped as he tightly pressed her against the side of his body, bracing the both of them for the inevitable. "You gotta promise me something right now," He told her suddenly, neither one of them taking their gazes off of the monster.

"What," Zelda breathed out, the King Dodongo appeared to be bracing its body, excited to have its prey seeming to give up on their lives so suddenly.

"If we get separated, don't wait up," Link told her forcefully, "we can both make it out of here, but if you don't see me, don't look for me. Run like hell as soon as there is a path to the exit. I'll do the same." Zelda nodded absentmindedly, hearing the pleading in his words. Though this wasn't enough of a response for the man. "Promise me!" He demanded of her.

"I promise," Zelda confirmed, though Link's speech still wasn't exactly her first priority at the moment. This seemed to appease him as he nodded slightly in approval.

The Dodongo finally lifted its gargantuan head, preparing to inhale.

"Now!" Link exclaimed, his hand tightening around the side of her waist as he shouted.

Zelda snapped her eyes shut in focus, slapping her hands together as if in prayer, "Nayru's-" she murmured under her breath and began to spread her hands apart. Her eyes snapped open as a blue orb of energy was now cupped between her palms, the embodiment of the spell. She swiftly threw her hands upwards, releasing the orb above them as it grew in size, before turning her palms outwards and shouting the second word of the spell: "_Love_!" she called, bringing her arms downward and causing the blue orb to melt all around them, swiftly encasing her in a chasm of light. The spell was completed right before the Dodongo sucked in his massive breath.

The princess felt her body being shoved roughly to the side, as if she were a rag-doll. Her eyes widened in shock as the weight Link had been pressing against her side, was all of a sudden used like a whip to propel her away from him. She gasped as she was sent skittering half into the lake of lava, the magma hissing against her forcefield while the orange and blue lights battled for dominance. Zelda scurried herself out of the fire pit, still confused as to how she ended up there in the first place. Her spell was still well-intact around her body, but where was Link? Her answer came as she climbed her way out of the lake, just in time to see one of the most terrifying sights that had ever been her misfortunes to witness.

Link stood unwaveringly in front of the Dodongo, only those few crucial feet away, his battle stance ready as he didn't even spare a glance to see where he had flung Zelda. The princess watched in horror as King Dodongo inhaled vigorously, immediately sweeping Link off of his feet and sending him, blades first, into the monster's gigantic gullet. The Princess didn't even have time to scream as Link disappeared down the Dodongo's throat, causing the animal to cease inhaling and sputter slightly at the invasion of it's windpipe. Her distress caused her to lose focus in keeping her barrier up, allowing the blue force to dissipate around her in a shimmering wave.

After a few moments, the Dodongo gathered back its bearings, slightly bewildered by this turn of events. He then turned his hostile gaze back to the Princess.

Zelda was frozen in shock. More and more time ticked away as the Dodongo began to move its unholy body. The monster didn't bother inhaling again, and instead clearly went on the path to crush the Princess. Zelda stood there, too numb to run away at the moment as the Dodongo stalked toward her. Was Link really… gone?

She was shaken out of her stupor when the King Dodongo was only a few steps away from her, letting out a victorious battle cry as it prepared to squish her. Zelda shook her head, eyes glossing back with life as she briskly maneuvered herself out of the way of the impending doom of its three-clawed foot. The ground rumbled as it came purposefully crashing down where she had been sitting only a few moments before, but she managed to keep her footing as she ran behind the Dodongo. If it had moved, that would mean it left the exit unguarded. But still… Zelda couldn't bring herself to simply run out of the cavern. Impulsively, she threw herself behind a large boulder that had fallen near the exit, and began to catch her breath behind the structure. Her hands were shaking as she clutched them to the top of her head. Why hadn't she just ran outside? This was the perfect opportunity! _Move_ Zelda!

A small part of her felt like that little girl back in Kakariko village all those years ago. Staring death in the face, if 'death' was three angry construction workers, as she refused to leave Link's side on the off chance that he hadn't already been killed, if 'killed' was put in time-out for an extended period.

The glaring difference however, was that this was no silly game. And Link had actually come back to her that time.

The King Dodongo growled, annoyed that she hadn't just given up her life to him. He couldn't see her from behind the bolder, but Zelda had a feeling he would sense her out soon enough. He had initially found them through a solid _wall_ for Nayru's sake. She couldn't afford to break down and allow herself to die. Link was right, she was a future monarch. She never should have been so reckless with her life. She had to get out of there.

Her heart wrenched in terror as she heard the Dodongo's footsteps stalking around once again. What she wouldn't give to have her _father's_ triforce right about now. She needed courage in this situation, and a lot of it.

As the Dodongo let out a low growl, something caused it to cut its voice short. It began to cough, an uncomfortable sound that almost seemed as if it was choking. Zelda's brow knit in confusion, and she braved a peak over her hiding spot to see what was happening to the beast.

King Dodongo was shaking his head back and forth swiftly, clawing at a spot on his neck fervently, as if trying to knock something off. However, there wasn't anything there. His sputtering turned more strenuous, and Zelda was noticing a strange dark-red liquid that was pouring out of his mouth rather repulsively. Was that the ignition fluid in his body? Or was that…

Blood?

The monster stopped digging with his claw as he lost the ability to focus on anything but trying to breathe despite the oozing liquid no-doubt clogging his windpipe. This clearly presented another window for Zelda's escape, but she was too caught up in whatever was happening to the prehistoric beast to think about that at the moment. As the coughs grew more gurgled, the monster couldn't hold itself up anymore, and that's when Zelda noticed something strange.

Right where the King Dodongo had been frantically itching on it's lower neck, a small spike suddenly broke through. Her eyes widened as the spike ripped its way downwards, tearing at the monsters hard flesh as opaque-reddish liquid oozed out of the new wound. Now, two spikes appeared in the widened incision, rippling outwards at either end and creating a gaping hole in the monster's neck. The Dodongo tried to roar in pain, but was unsuccessful as it lost the ability to use its vocal chords.

Out of the wound, a slime-covered, green-clad man fell onto the ground. He took in a greedy breath at the welcomed sight of cavern, and then flopped to the ground exhausted, right beside to the dying King of the Dodongo, who was too lifeless at this point to do anything about it. Zelda couldn't believe her eyes, but for once, her feet began to act before her brain did.

The Princess bolted from her hiding spot, quickly making her way over to the slime-covered Link. It was a little disgusting, but she still wasted no time in grabbing hold of his dripping body and half-embracing, half-helping him up.

"You incorrigible prick," Zelda said in a gentle tone. Link snorted, allowing himself to be supported by Zelda as she threw his arm over her shoulders, supporting his chest with her hand as she began to walk him away from the beast.

"The Princess of Hyrule just said 'prick,'" he snickered, lulling his head over to look at her, Zelda ignored him, continuing to walk him away from the Dodongo as he started to regain the act of using his legs.

However, Link didn't have very much time to recover before the King Dodongo let out one last low rumbling noise, and fell completely limp, finally dead. While this should have been a positive thing, it thus began a dangerous timer. Zelda noticed the lack of sounds coming from the creature, and as soon as they made it to the exit, she stole a glance backwards to see its lifeless body.

"I'm afraid we have to pick up the pace Link," Zelda said wearily, disconnecting their bodies as she grabbed hold of only his wrist. Link was surprisingly able to support himself very well, and began to run after Zelda at an increasingly fast pace. He was either becoming fueled by adrenaline, or had been faking excessive sluggishness to watch Zelda struggle to keep him up.

The pair ran swiftly through the tunnels, covering a sizable amount in a short time. The escape route they took was on the opposite side of the room from where they entered, and Zelda had a good feeling about an exit to the cavern itself being nearby. The orange-light that had been emitted from the lava was almost non existent on this path, and Zelda was following a light that was more white in color. Eventually, this light finally broke through the rocks, offering an ever increasing glimpse of the outside. This was about when the first tremor shook its way through the entirety of Death Mountain.

Link and Zelda struggled to keep their footing, they were only a few yards away from the exit! Zelda could practically see the sky from where they were. She yanked Link along despite him stumbling onto the ground, and the both of them ignored the falling debris, practically used it it by now. The two of them finally broke free of the cavern, sun still beaming in the sky as it graced their eager bodies with a familiar shine. Link collapsed onto the ground when they were only a little ways away from the cave, painting fiercely as he lay sprawled out on his back dramatically. Zelda allowed her weakened knees to buckle beside him as well, falling forward on her goo-covered hands. Neither one of them spoke for a while, each just enjoying the soft sounds of the outdoors. The Princess was beginning to feel her ears popping, which caused her to notice something as she pushed herself upwards onto her knees.

The pair had somehow made it almost all the way to the top of Death Mountain, far above the entrance below Goron city, which was where they came in from. She glanced upwards, seeing the usual white cloud that encased the top of the volcano had grown black with soot. No doubt they had been causing micro-explosions the whole time they were in there, thus causing smoke to build up in the sky.

Another tremor shot through the volcano, shaking even the ground Link and Zelda were sitting on. She didn't know if this explosion was more or less violent than the last, but it was certainly brutal. A spout of fire shot out from the tip of the volcano while the tremor continued, a significant amount of lava pouring out as the smoke rim turned orange with heat. She gulped in nervousness and peered down at Link, who actually looked like he couldn't care less about the sight. Luckily, the lava was slight enough to do as it usually did, which was trickle down the uninhabited left side of the mountain in a dangerous red wave. The Princess breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I'm never going inside of any monsters _ever_ again," Link muttered, staring at the darkening sky as he lay motionless.

"Well I'm certainly glad to hear that," Zelda told him honestly, giving him a pointed look. Link appeared as though he was going to try to be angry at her snarky tone, but his face broke out into a slight grin.

"Ah," he began with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, "and whose fault was it that we got sucked up by the Zora Monster in the first place?" Zelda frown and didn't answer him. That wasn't the prevalent concern at the moment, alright? She ignored the comment, switching her attention to her slime covered body. She touched her arm lightly, and as she removed her hand, a string of goo followed the action, snapping back when the string became too thin. Her face twisted, repulsed at the sight.

"Heh, sorry about that," Link said sheepishly, though he didn't actually seem very apologetic about it, "the whole inside of the things mouth was covered in that mucus stuff. But at least you didn't have to _swim_ in it for two whole minutes," he shuddered slightly, which was the most movement he had done since they made it out of the cavern.

"Mucus?" Zelda repeated with an air of curiosity, inspecting the clear substance more thoroughly now. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she gasped in excitement. "This must be the fireproof membrane that prevents the Dodongo's insides from being burned when it releases fire! Oh my Goddess! If we bring some of this back to Castle Town, we can have it recreated by a potion maker and manufacture essentially fireproof goods! Link, this is amazing!" Zelda cried excitedly, inspecting her goo-hand with renewed vigor. Link wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Ugh," He groaned as Zelda took a large slab of mucus off of Link's chest with her index finger, pinching it between her thumb curiously. "Glad you gained some pleasure from my _pain_," he pointed out sarcastically.

Zelda was too excited about the discovery to bother with a response.

* * *

**So how was it? Feel free to let me know your thoughts in a review, or fav or follow if you want more! Thank you for reading, I hope it was a pleasant waste of your time~**

**(*)Okay no one will ever get this reference but I had to throw it in there. If you're good I'll tell you all what it's from next chapter (:**

**Till next time!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N Hello again my lovely readers!**

**How shocked are you all to see an actual timely update? Probably not as shocked as me, because I have no idea how this happened.**

**So this is more of a dialogue chapter again. Since, ya know, clearly that seems to be the theme of this story. The chapters tend to switch back and forth between mostly action to mostly talking. Though this is really a big transitional chapter into life in Hyrule Castle/Castle Town with our resident heroes.**

**Even though this isn't exactly a good representation of what the rest of the story is going to consist of, don't worry if you feel like you liked the whole action/dungeon theme thing better, because I'm not done with those just yet~**

**In the mean time, let me know what your thoughts are so far on the direction that this story has taken, I'd love to hear your feedback!**

**And as always, lemme know if you see any editing mistakes that I may have glossed over, I'll be happy to go back and fix them!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter of HoT!**

**(I don't own LoZ)**

* * *

"And for our great heroes-" Darunia roared over the whoops and cheers of the Goron crowd that had gathered, beaming down at the two Hylians in question with his gigantic grin, "We have _another_ reward!"

Zelda shied away from the praise as they were continuously handed blankets and expensive looking pottery and spices. The bombardment of gifts got to such a ridiculous point, that even Link was trying to politely decline. The Princess respectfully shook her head at the Goron Leader.

"No-no, that's quite alright!" Zelda insisted over the shouts and the cheers that were still ensuing all around them. Darunia laughed good naturedly as he completely dismissed her.

"Nonsense!" He bellowed, before adding, "And this is the best of it, I promise!" With that, the leader gave his people a knowing look, and gestured for one of them to go and fetch yet _another_ item.

The Goron seemed to instantly understand what he was referring to as they wasted no time in excitedly rolling off to another part of the city to retrieve something. Link and Zelda exchanged tired looks with one another as the group reemerged with something concealed in their rolled up bodies.

"For the Goron Heroes Link, and-" Darunia paused, squinting his eyes down at the blonde girl in front of him as he appeared to try and remember her name. Though of course, that feat was an impossible one considering Zelda had never _told_ him her name. The Princess felt a surge of panic as she quickly uttered the false identity she had been planning since the last time several times this happened.

"Tetra!" She replied almost too quickly, the fear probably evident on her face as she spoke. However if the Goron Leader noticed, he didn't make any gestures to show it.

"Link and Tetra!" The Goron echoed loudly, grabbing hold of the mystery item from the Goron that retrieved it. Link shot her an annoyingly amused look when Darunia bellowed the fake name, though she pointedly ignored it. The Goron Leader unveiled their final gift to them eagerly, the roar of the crowd growing even more animated as they caught sight of the offering. Zelda's own eyes widened in amazement at the spectacular item Darunia held within his massive hand.

"The Goron Ruby," his tone was a bit more somber as he added, "This old thing has been around for as long as anyone can remember. According to tradition, years ago it had been given away to the rightful hero of the Goron people. But it suddenly just turned up again when Tito here was dusting out his shop," He explained, admiring the ruby himself as he spoke. The Goron apparently named Tito nodded in confirmation of Darunia's story.

"Holy Din," Zelda heard Link mutter under his breath from beside her. She stole a quick glance at the man, only to see that he was practically drooling at the sight before them. A small, amused smile graced her features at his awed reaction.

"Legend says that with each generation, the ruby is passed to the new Hero of The Goron," He told them, before looking at the people gathered around with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "And while you two certainly aren't Goron, I can't think of anyone else more suited to be called our heroes!" The crowd let out a howl of approval at the decision, patting Link and Zelda on the back a little too forcefully, as the princess found herself struggling not to fall forward at the repeated impacts.

Darunia lowered the ruby to their level, offering for the pair to take it. Though she could tell it physically pained him, Link restrained himself from instantly swiping the jewel, and instead turned his attention to Zelda. She couldn't help but notice the puppy-like look on his face as he nodded for her to have it, crossing his hands behind his back as he did so. The action completely shocked the Princess. Was he really going to let her have the gem? Blinking in surprise, she carefully plucked the large heirloom from the Gorons hand, inspecting the shining red ruby which sat snugly in a throne of gold. This golden frame encased the huge jewel on either side, extending into two pointed edges.

While the artifact _was_ magnificent, and she would have adored to have such an interesting antique from the Goron people in her study, Zelda knew it would be selfish to keep it. After all, she had plenty of jewels at the palace, and Link was the one who _actually_ slayed the Dodongo King. With a genuine smile, Zelda ceased her brief inspection of the Goron Ruby and turned to Link, holding it out for him to take. His eyes appeared to shine almost as much as the ruby as he took a hold of it in disbelief.

"Are you sure?" He muttered quietly, likely knowing how much something like this would have meant to her. Zelda felt an unfamiliar feeling wash over her, one that caused her gaze to soften as she smiled more sincerely at the hesitant man.

"It's not like I can suddenly show up back home with an ancient artifact of the Goron people," She practically whispered as she lightly pushed the gem towards him, "That would raise too many questions, don't you think?"

Link wasn't going to fight her on the subject as he finally gave into temptation, accepting the offer as he pocketed the priceless jewel in his pouch. While there was definitely no way Darunia could have heard their exchange over the roar of his people, he still regarded the pair with a knowing glance.

"Remember Miss Tetra," Darunia said in a tone so low, it shocked Zelda that he could speak that quietly, "Your _wisdom_ will get you far, as long as you keep trusting in it. We'll never forget what your benevolence did for us today, _especially_ in the near future."

Zelda couldn't reply, she simply stared up at the older Goron with wide eyes. Was… that a coincidence? Before she could inquire however, Darunia switched his gaze to the equally as confused Link beside her, and his face lit up in an even larger grin.

"And we'll especially never forget _your_ heroism, Kid!" He bellowed while offering Link a friendly squeeze of the shoulder, before turning his attention back to the surrounding audience, "Let's hear it for our Goron Heroes!" He shouted, lifting a gigantic fist in the air as he did so.

The cheers were almost deafening now as a multitude of happy Goron swamped Link, causing his already battered body to fall to the floor at the sudden increase in weight. Zelda's initial concern was replaced with amusement as the Goron people proceeded to chant: '_Goron Heroes! Goron Heroes!_' and bombard the fallen Link with even more gifts.

XXX

The pair traveled down to Kakariko not long after the exchange with the Goron, the sun finally beginning to set over their path down the mountain. Interestingly enough, they didn't see one Dodongo come outside to bask in the fleeting rays of sunshine.

Link offering a vague explanation to the guard when they made it back into the village, a conversation that Zelda purposefully tuned herself out of. She would be sure to strip those brutes of their post _first thing_ when she made it back to Hyrule Castle. Unfortunately however, the pair was going to have to wait yet another day to return; both due to both the time of day, and pressing fact that they were completely exhausted. After harvesting as much of the Dodongo-goo as possible into their empty bottles, Zelda also eventually gave into Link's prompting and allowed their clothes to be thoroughly washed.

They set off first thing the next morning. Link emerged early with his beautiful chestnut mare fully strapped down with their multitude of supplies, including a few things that the Goron had given them. They didn't exchange many words for the better part of the morning. Instead, they simply smiled pleasantly at one another and prepared their things, readying themselves enough to mount the horse, and make their way out of Kakariko for the last time.

Zelda couldn't help the strange knot in her stomach that formed at the idea of going back to the palace. Link may have been on to something when he implied that she was afraid to relent to her old duties again. It wasn't like it was a _common_ feeling she had. In fact, Zelda had never felt so unsure of her position in her life. It was extremely recent, likely due to all the strange occurrences that she had witnessed with both the Zora and Goron people. The unanswered questions she had gathered on this adventure were causing her to feel almost _nervous_ about returning to Hyrule Castle. Everything she had seen implemented her with a sinking feeling that she would be doing a lot more damage control than simply demoting a few rogue officers.

She sighed to herself, subconsciously digging closer to the warm body in front of her as she slumped her head against his back, lost in thought. They were swiftly zipping through the grassy plains of Hyrule field, and with each passing moment, growing closer and closer to Zelda's impending responsibilities. The ever observant Link took notice to this uncharacteristic action, turning his head back slightly to glance at the princess in confusion.

"You okay?" He practically yelled over the roar of the wind. Zelda immediately snapped out of her stupor at the voice, eyes flicking upward to see his over-the-shoulder gaze. She instantly straightened herself out, slightly embarrassed at the unrefined posture she had just been in.

Zelda couldn't bring herself to try yelling, so she instead stretched herself upwards and leaned her head into his shoulder in order to speak directly into Link's ear, just as she had done many times before.

"Fine, thank you. I'm just a bit… tired is all," she fibbed, though as soon as she finished talking, she became overcome with an strange feeling that caused her to hastily pull away from Link.

For some odd reason, that action felt… somehow uncomfortable. Strange, as she had been using that means of communication when the two of them rode Epona before, and it never felt out of the ordinary then. Link too, clearly felt the awkward. His face almost seemed a tad red as he cleared his throat loudly. This confirmed, in Zelda's mind, that her action had indeed been inappropriate.

"Ah, alright," he spoke up once more, eyes now unwaveringly fixated ahead of them, "Let me know if you need to stop," Was all the man offered, before they fell into a tense quiet. The resulting silence was so awkward in fact, that Zelda suddenly felt there was a problem with touching Link at all, and impulsively began to move her hands as far away from him as possible, electing to simply hold on to the edge of Epona's saddle for balance. Link slowed down his horse as soon as he felt her grip loosen in pressure. Which was for the best, as if he didn't, Zelda would have probably fallen off.

"What are you doing?" Link asked her, glancing over his shoulder once again to shoot her a look, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Zelda suddenly realized that she made the situation even _more_ uncomfortable by drawing attention to it, "N-nothing, I'm fine," the Princess stammered, before gathering back her bearings and focusing her eyes on the fast approaching image of the castle materializing before them, "We're just drawing close to Castle Town now, and it's likely that we'll see guards soon, and it's just that it's frown upon for the Princess to touch anyone in public, and I just thought… " Zelda told him quickly before trailing off, trying to explain her flighty behavior with an onset of excuses.

"Oh," Link acknowledged, though he sounded almost discouraged in a way. It was entirely possible that he assumed there was something else bothering her, though elected to drop it. They continued on in this thick silence for a while more.

"I'm gonna lie you know," Link spoke suddenly. The words were so out of context that Zelda was almost sure she was hearing things.

"Huh?" She uttered in a questioning tone, raising a brow at him.

"When I meet your father and request citizenship," Link clarified, "So _don't_ mention that I lived with the Gerudo when I was a kid, I'm gonna lie about that."

"Naturally," Zelda nodded to him with a shrug, regardless of the fact that he couldn't see it. She then continued, "Might I ask what your lie will be?"

"No," Link teased, glancing back at her with a mischievous smile on his face, "You're a horrible liar and I can't have you jeopardizing me," He explained simply.

Zelda scoffed, though she didn't bother trying to pry. She was grateful for the change in atmosphere between the two of them, and she would rather not do anything to ruin that again. A much more comfortable silence overtook them for the remainder of the ride.

The great white walls that surrounded Castle Town were indeed coming into view, and the Hylian pair rode steadily up to them. This of course caused Zelda's few remaining moments of freedom to feel exaggeratedly extended as the gate guards slowly materialized in her vision. She heard Link let out a soft sigh as they neared the men, though she didn't read much into it. Zelda stiffly straightened her body up, abandoning her latch on Epona's saddle in order to fold her hands in her lap, presenting herself in an overall more dignified position as a guard started to approach Epona.

"Business and Pap-" One of the guards began boredly to Link, before his eyes fell on the passenger behind him, causing him to lose his train of thought. Before Link could even reply, the guard practically doubled over in surprise, eyes blinking madly as if trying to determine if the sight before him was real. Zelda wasted no time falling back into her royal routine, giving the man a polite smile while he gaped up at her.

"Good Sir, would it be possible to let us in? I would like to get home as soon as possible," Zelda asked of him gently, causing the man to briskly shake himself out of his trance.

"Y-yes Princess, right away Princess!" He did a brief bow, before running back to the remaining guard who was regarding the entire skeptical, obviously confused by the commotion beside him. The two guards frantically whispered something to one another, before the other began to gesture wildly to one of the bow-wielding lookouts that were situated at the top of the wall. This man responded with the same amount of shock, before abandoning his post and sliding down a ladder to tell _another_ guard something. Link let out a cough of laughter at the frantic exchange, but did manage to keep his, likely snarky, comments to himself.

"I'm sorry for the wait Princess! Please, do come in!" The disheveled guard told them, hunched down in a polite bow while he gestured them forward. Zelda smiled at the man in her diplomatic way once again.

"Thank you, Good Sir," she told him. Link let out snort at the entire experience, before clicking Epona on and past the wall. Zelda lightly kicked his ankle in an attempt to make sure he kept quiet. Though unfortunately, it worked in reverse.

"I'm here too guys," Link sarcastically muttered once they were through the gates, though quiet enough so that the excited guards rushing around them couldn't hear his comment.

"Would you hush up?" Zelda hissed quietly, still attempting to keep her statue-like posture on the horse as it moved forwards, "You're lucky they didn't take notice of you, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Link responded in their hushed tone with a roll of his eyes, before adding, "Now what's the fastest way to the-"

"Princess Zelda!" A sudden brigade of soldiers came into view ahead of them, calling to the pair of Hylians situated on Epona's back, as if in a panic. Each member of the group was galloping over on a castle horse, which consisted of only purebred, large, white, stallions. They were dressed exactly like the soldiers who guarded the wall, which was head to toe in silver armor and grey chainmail. They were also liberally decorated with engravings of the royal family, including a large breastplate with a red coat of arms displayed on it. Each carried an expensive looking sword as opposed to the spears that the guards tended to favor, as well as a standard hylian shield. Epona began to whinny in discomfort as the large group of horses effectively surrounded her. Within moments, the guards were swarming all around them.

"Whoa girl," Link murmured to his distressed horse, before looking back at Zelda. Much to both of their surprise however, she was already in the process of being removed from his horse by one of the many soldiers, without so much as an explanation, "What the- what's happening!?" He demanded as she was lifted by her waist onto one of the guard's stallions. He eyed her with slight concern while the soldiers muttered gruff apologies and roughly transferred her over. The Princess almost subconsciously held her hand out to Link as she was pulled away, before collecting herself again and placing a forced, yet refined smile back on her face.

"This is quite unnecessary," Zelda started in an attempt to calm the frantic soldiers, "My escort is perfectly capable of transporting me back to the castle on his own," Zelda told them, but they were clearly having none of that.

"I'm afraid not Princess," A guard said as he climbed onto the same horse she was placed on, grabbing onto the reins from behind her, "We're under strict orders to bring you back to Hyrule Castle _immediately_," The remaining soldiers took the initiative to form a protective box around Zelda and the guard while the two of them spoke. As the group briskly readied themselves to take off, the Princess shifted her attention back to Link.

The discontent was evident on his face as he watched the exchange, likely noticing just how uneasy Zelda appeared with the whole thing. She felt an onset of guilt at this. After all, he was likely conditioned out of habit by now to worry for her in these situations.

"Everything is fine, just me at the castle," She reported, managing to collect her nerves enough to appear at least slightly more comfortable with everything. Before Link could reply however, the guard ordered their brigade of horses onwards, sights unwaveringly set on Hyrule Castle.

* * *

Link watched as the Princess was ripped away from him helplessly, his mouth practically hanging open as the guards swiftly whisked her away on their fancy horse parade. Was… that it then?

Link actually felt restless with the idea of not having her next to him, as typically when she was out of his sight, it meant she was about to be eaten by moblins or something. Being completely freed of the responsibility of her safety, though undeniably liberating, just felt… weird.

After lightly shaking his head and coming to grips with the fact that Zelda was indeed being taken back to her lavish lifestyle, and _not_ a blood thirsty cave of murderous death like usual, he began to take in his surroundings.

He was near the entrance to Castle Town, and there were only a few shops and buildings around him, as it was clear the city became more dense a little farther up. However, there were a multitude of civilians who had gathered to watch the scene unfold with the Princess, and were now all staring at Link with probing eyes. The Gerudo winced slightly under their curious gazes, and began to slowly usher his unhappy horse forwards once more. She wasn't that great with a whole bunch of strangers crowding around her, and he couldn't say he blamed her. However, his first priority was navigating to Hyrule Castle, as after all, that was the only way that his mission could continue.

Castle Town was a bustling city filled with shops and homes and markets, all crammed together tightly in a lively environment. In the area he was walking through, people littered the streets. They hustled from one place to another, each dressed in surprisingly fancy-looking peasant clothes and usually carrying some item of transport, like a woven basket filled with goods. A few people had shouted for him to buy their supplies, and others may have even inquired about Princess Zelda, but he was far too overwhelmed to respond to anyone, and just preferred to ignore them.

Eventually Link made his way out of what he assumed was the marketplace, finding himself in a larger, open circle space of buildings and alleyways that extended to different parts of the city. In the center of the circular rim, was a well-kept stone fountain that proudly displayed the triforce symbol of the royal family atop the geyser of water. It took up a huge chunk of the open space, and a few people were paying it attention by throwing in rupees, while others were sitting on the rim of the fountain, leisurely enjoying the view. More high-end shops and businesses encased this circle, and it was quite clear that this was the center of town.

Link and his horse were noticeably overstimulated. It seemed far too _easy_ to get lost in a place like this. What, with the multitude of gigantic buildings and repeatedly patterned stone ground, it was a wonder anyone could get around here at all!

As the Gerudo stood there, partially confused as to what his next move should be, and partially just starstruck, yet another voice began to speak at him through his daze.

"Sir… Sir? Weren't you the man escorting Princess Zelda?"

Link blinked downwards at the use of the familiar name, only to see yet another soldier talking up at him. This one did not possess a horse, though it was entirely possible that he was one of the guards that rushed in and took the princess away.

"Ah," Link swallowed an uncomfortable lump in his throat as he responded, "yeah that was me."

"I thought so! Hyrule owes you a great debt, Son," The man chimed, which caused Link to nod idly. He then proceeded to gesture to a couple other guards that had apparently accompanied him. "If you don't mind, I'd actually like to take you to the castle to be properly thanked on the matter by request of the royal family," He told him, and the remaining guards took hold of Epona's reins, who hesitantly whinnied at the contact. Link padded his animal's head, before giving the the guard a relieved grin.

"That would be great, thanks man," he confirmed, feeling grateful that he wasn't going to have to figure out how to get there on his own. The guard nodded, and Link and Epona allowed themselves to be tugged along, "So where _is_ the Castle anyways?" He asked the soldier who had approached him, glancing downwards as the man walked beside his horse. The soldier gave him a strange look.

"Right there," He answered, pointing directly in front of them to the massive, looming structure in the not-so-far-off distance. Link smiled sheepishly as he really started to look around at the path they were taking. It was definitely the the obvious road to the castle. The route was littered with stone columns and red flags displaying the triforce symbol, with mostly just Hylian Soldiers traveling up and down the road in a haste.

"Ah, right," Link muttered, half to himself. Eventually, the small escort brought him to an area with a multitude of marble steps that led up to a massive overhang, and then what was assumably the entrance of the castle. Epona halted at this change in architectural development.

"We'll take your horse to the royal stables for the time being," the man who had been leading Epona said to Link. The Gerudo nodded, reaching into one of his bags for his sword and starting to sheathe it behind his back.

"Oh, no-no," The soldier beside him said quickly, "Weapons are strictly prohibited by civilians in the castle. You'll have to forgive our rudeness, obviously our Princess' savior is not a threat… but, just a precaution," Link hesitated at that. He hated being places without at least _some_ means to protect himself, especially when he was gallivanting into the literal home of his self-proclaimed worst enemy. With a sigh, the Gerudo slid his sword back into it's bag, and hopped off of his horse. He immediately turned his attention to the men escorting Epona.

"You," Link began, eyes bearing into the smaller man's intimidatingly, "You _don't_ go through my shit," He said in a menacing tone, yanking one of the more portable bags off of Epona and pulling it over his shoulder without breaking eye contact with the young soldier.

"Er, yes Sir," the Guard uneasily responded. Link nodded as his face broke into a friendly grin and the men took their leave, gilding the last familiar face away from him as he was left to stand completely weaponless next to a goddess damned Hylian Soldier. For Farore's sake, he literally couldn't think of a more uncomfortable situation as he side eyed the man next to him, who silently began to mount the multitude of steps. Link followed suit.

Truthfully, the whole thing had him on edge, though he couldn't get over how lucky he had been getting thus far. Not only was he given the chance to scope out Hyrule's greatest city, but he was being _personally escorted_ into the royal families stronghold, Hyrule Castle. Worst case, even if his plan failed right now he already had tons of information to take home to the rest of the Gerudo. His skin crawled with anticipation as they finally crossed the long stretch of finely trimmed royal gardens, and made it to the huge stone doors that marked the true entrance to Hyrule Castle.

These were the same gates King Ganondorf stormed all those years ago when he took over Hyrule in the name of the Gerudo. With a much more menacing thought, he realized that the current ruler of Hyrule, King Daphnes Nohansen, was ignorantly sitting on a throne right now, possibly overjoyed at the thought of having his daughter back to him, completely unaware of the fate that was being lead right to his front doorstep.

At the sight of Link and the Soldier, the heavy stone doors were pulled open by two more guards acting as a final checkpoint, revealing the inside of the castle to the ever eager Link. He was almost taken aback by the multitude of servants, nobles, and guards buzzing around, it was clear that news of Zelda's return had spread fast, and Link had arrived just in time to witness the effects. The soldier beside him chuckled slightly at Link's face of surprise.

"Sorry about this. It's usually not this hectic, I promise," He offered good naturedly. Link grinned back.

"I'll take your word for it," He responded, before turning his attention to the rest of the castle. Even in the first room, it was obvious that some serious time had been spent crafting the place. The walls were made of elegant white, with distinct carvings and paintings between each individual column, accentuated in gold. Hanging from the ceilings were several magnificent golden chandeliers with multiple shimmering jewels hanging off of them. The ground was made of black and white checkered marble, with dark red rugs working as pathways that led into individual rooms. When the Gerudo looked up, he could see at least three more floors extending upwards, with balconies overlooking the grand entrance. There were a few marble statues in this room alone, and Link found himself wondering just how much _money_ the whole thing cost to build. It was so luxurious, any one square foot of this place could probably feed the whole Gerudo tribe for a month!

Forcing himself not to swipe one of the many expensive looking vases that were mounted proudly on a glass table, Link padded after his escort as he was navigated through the crowd of excited people. Interestingly enough, not one of the noblemen or soldiers or uniform-wearing servants gave the clearly out-of-place Link a second look, all too preoccupied with their 'royal affairs' or whatever to take notice.

Seriously, breaking into this place again later would be a piece of cake.

The guard lead Link into the room directly north of the grandiose entrance. The long hallway was, unsurprisingly, just as disgustingly expensive-looking as the room prior, and Link had a sneaking suspicion that everywhere in the palace looked like this.

"Wait here a moment, the king won't be ready to see you for a few more minutes," The guard beside him told him absently. Link practically choked on his own tongue.

"The _king_?!" Link repeated, a little too exaggeratedly. The guard shot the younger man a big smile, laughing slightly. He was clearly mistaking Link's surprise for excitement.

"That's right Kid, you get to meet our great king! He wants to personally thank you for bringing his daughter home," The man said in a congratulatory tone.

Link felt like his head was spinning, as all he could manage was a soft: "Oh," The guard laughed lightly again, patting Link on the shoulder pleasantly.

"Don't worry, he's not as scary as you think," He consoled, before gesturing for Link to sit on one of the comfortable-looking cherry wood benches that were placed beside the doors to what was apparently the king's throne room, "Now just sit tight, someone will come for you when he's ready," The guard concluded, before offering Link a small nod of respect and exiting from the way that they came.

He just left Link there. Alone. In an empty hallway. About to be _personally introduced_ to the King of Hyrule. Were these people joking?

Link looked around in slight awe at the opportunity he was just given. Maybe guards were usually supposed to be stationed beside the doors, but weren't due to all of the commotion in the castle right now. Either way, he saw absolutely no one scuttling around here, as this hallway was seemed to be a dead end to the throne room. For a moment, he cursed the palace's slight security for taking the measure to actually strip him of his sword before he was allowed inside. He was practically kicking himself at his sheer stupidity by not concealing a dagger on his form before coming in.

Link surveyed the area, eyes landing on a propped up suit of knight armor that was holding a spear as a weapon. Giving the hall another once over, he briskly made his way to the armor, inspecting it thoroughly. There was no way he could sneak a whole damn spear into the King's room. Biting his lip, Link slid the wooden staff away from the hollow knight. Without hesitation, he brought the pole swiftly down against his knee, effectively breaking the metal spear tip off. Link, yet again, gave a paranoid once over of the hallway, before sliding the broken spear back into the hand of the armor. Stuffing the stolen metal object in his boot, he proceeded to conceal it thoroughly with his puffy pant leg. He then briskly made his way back to the seat the Soldier left him in.

Link couldn't believe how well everything was lining up for him! It was like the goddesses _wanted_ him to assassinate Daphnes. Granted, it was definitely a rough plan, and he had no idea what the security would be like behind those doors, or if he had any way to escape alive after doing it, but he _had_ to try.

The next few minutes felt like an eternity to Link. His palms grew increasingly clammy as time ticked away with nothing for him to occupy his racing mind with, and he just kept busy by continuously re-adjusting the spear tip in his boot to assure that no one could tell he had a weapon on him. Eventually after a painstakingly long period of time, the great doors beside him creaked open to reveal a different Hylian soldier, who offered Link a curt nod and pushed the door open even more.

"The king will only be a few more minutes, but you may come in now if you'd like," The man said, holding the door open for the Gerudo. Link nodded, finding words shockingly hard to come by for once in his life as he slipped inside the throne room.

Once again, he was taken aback by just how magnificent his surroundings were as he entered the well lit, rounded room. The biggest change from this particular place to the rest of the castle, was the presence of two hulking chairs to the back of the wall, with a set of carpeted stairs leading up to them. Each chair was the same marble white accented in gold as the rest of the castle, cushioned with a comfortable-looking red velvet cover. Though each chair was large, one was slightly smaller than the other, and both were currently empty of any occupants. Link swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Are you excited, Boy?" A soldier asked him, amused by Link's awestruck face. The Gerudo practically jumped at the noise.

"Huh? Oh, uh- yeah," Link stuttered, offering a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head innocently. The surrounding guard snickered at his befuddled behavior.

In all honesty, why in the world would Link be excited just to meet royalty? Was that really all the King wanted to give him for _saving his daughter's life_? You had to be kidding. He'd be downright pissed if he wasn't at least offered some rupees or something.

Unfortunately, there were an awful lot of guards in this room. They flanked the walls to either side, and also stood sternly by the doors. Link tried not to make it obvious that he was scoping out means to escape as his eyes flicked all over the room inconspicuously. Colorful pane glass windows surrounded them on either side, located behind the guards. He figured that when the soldiers inevitably started to rush him, he could potentially use their momentary shock to his advantage and escape through a window. He could only be a couple floors up, at most.

That plan was admittedly juvenile with far too many assumptions, though it was still good to have an option. He continued to scan the room, noticing another door to the far back, which he could possibly use as an escape route. The problem was, he had no idea where it lead to. Also, where was his horse even being kept? It wasn't like he could leave without Epona.

Just as Link was thinking himself into a frenzy, the guard beside him started to say something to him.

"-If you wouldn't mind?" He finished, eyeing Link expectantly as the Gerudo realized he missed the bulk of what was just said.

"Huh?" Link blinked at the man, his confusion once again causing the soldiers around him to laugh at his apparent anxiousness. That would of course work in his favor; the more harmless they believed him to be, the better.

If the guard addressing him also found his question amusing, he didn't show it, "I just need to issue a quick pat down, since you'll be meeting the king," He repeated, waving his hand dismissively as he added, "Do you mind?"

Link felt his heart skip a beat, "Oh," He managed to get out, and nodded his head slowly in confirmation. Trying to maintain a casual appearance, he willingly lifted his arms as the guard invaded his personal space.

Link felt his throat tighten as the soldier began a thorough pat down of Link's frozen body. How the hell would he explain that he had a _broken castle spear tip_ tucked into his boot, right as he was about to meet the king? Not to mention, if they decided to look around for a second they would realize that the it was taken from the knight armor right outside the door, thus further burying him in the hole.

As time dragged on, it became increasingly clear to the Gerudo that he would probably have to abandon his mission in favor of escaping. This would mean he had to kill as many of the guards as possible before hightailing it the hell out of there.

Link's hands started to twitch in anticipation as he held his breath, watching as the guard finished his in-depth search of Link's pant pockets and pouch. However, just before the soldier made his way to Link's boot and caused him to react, the door on the back wall began to creak open, thus causing the guard to instantly stop what he was doing.

"Welcome to Hyrule Castle!" A deep, commanding voice traveled all throughout the room, causing everyone to turn their heads toward the source of the noise. Link felt his body grow even more tense as he unabashedly stared at the man, reaction timed dulled considerably as their eyes met for the very first time.

King Daphnes Nohansen was tall, and even in his fairly old age boasted a large and intimidating build. This probably was evident of his famed title as the 'best swordsmen in Hyrule.' He wore a long, red cape with a white collar over an elegant blue and white shirt. He had on expensive pants tucked into gold rimmed black boots that he unabashedly strutted in on. Over his cape he had several golden bands which rested loosely over his chest, displaying his high rank as a military chief. Attached to his hip, a brown belt offered a place to sheathe a magnificent platinum-hilted sword. His face was partly covered with a well-trimmed white beard, and atop his snow-white head was a striking golden crown with a single red gemstone drawing the eye in the crown's center. After a few seconds of rudely staring, Link noticed that everyone else in the room had taken a knee when the man walked in. He quickly followed suit, realizing that he should probably be looking at the ground rather than practically glaring at the King of Hyrule so disrespectfully.

Following closely behind the king, was _another_ group of soldiers, who then filled the already well-protected throne room even more. Unlike the castle guards however, these men were dressed more like proper knights with white armor that covered most of their bodies, and personalized swords ranging from large to small displayed proudly on each of their hips. Link took notice of the swords first. The fact that they were specific to each person would mean that each one of them was likely proficient in combat. This would also mean that Link, armed with only a broken spike, was pretty much screwed.

The king raised his hand in indication for everyone to rise, and the guard who had previously been patting him down took that as cue to continue his search for weapons. Just as Link was starting to believe his luck had finally run its course into definite life in prison, the king suddenly scoffed in annoyance at this behavior.

"Oh please, would you cut that out," The King reprimanded the guard in annoyance, "I'm already here now, aren't I?" The man didn't respond, instead he immediately ceased what he was doing and bowed, stepping back to take his orderly place in the line of soldiers. However this didn't stop King's chastising, "Besides, that is the very man who saved our Princess' _life_, now would you show some respect?"

Link pretend to shift humbly at the recognition, though he was in actuality too relieved by the King's short temper to feel anything but grateful toward the goddesses. Oh how Daphnes would be regretting that decision _very_ soon.

"Come here Lad," The king said. Though it was a seemingly friendly sentence, he somehow made seem more like a demand than a suggestion. Looking into his eyes he obeyed the request, Link felt a strange sense of calm. Odd, as everything about the king seemed to give off an air of intimidation. Regardless, the Gerudo walked up to the king's throne without hesitation, stopping at the bottom of the steps to once again bow down to Daphnes, even keeping his head pointed at the ground respectfully.

Link supposed he could stomach a few more bows before he inevitably sprung up and killed the man once and for all.

This action seemed to appease the king as he continued talking, "I am Daphnes Nohansen, King of Hyrule," He introduced, his powerful voice enunciating every syllable with a tone so deliberate that it surpassed even Zelda's posh manner of speech, "Though, you already knew that."

The words were almost smug, and Link had to hold back a small smirk as he uttered a respectful: "Yes Sire, I certainly did."

"I'm more interested in you, my boy," The King admitted, leaning back on his throne in a more comfortable position as he continued speaking, "I am indebted to you… ah… "

"My name is Link, Your Majesty, " The Gerudo finished for him, a little impatiently. Though if it _was_ rude, the King didn't seem to take notice.

"I am indebted to you, Link," He continued, "For bringing my precious Zelda back to me. I wish to formally thank you for your trouble in bringing her home," The king's eyes bore down into Link probingly as the young man realized he should say something in response to that rather anti-climatic thank you.

"It was my pleasure to serve the crown," Link tried quickly, assuming that was the proper way to accept a 'formal thanks.'

"And since my daughter means the world to me, I am also willing to give you a more official, though still reasonable, penance for your trouble," Daphnes told him, crossing his hands in his lap deliberately, "Please tell me, what is it you desire for payment?" Everything about the king's posture indicated that he was testing to see what Link would ask for. Taking note of this particular behavior, Link saw the opportunity to say something characteristically inappropriate.

"Is your daughter more precious to you than, say, your Kingdom, then?"

Link immediately regretted this decision. It was almost like an involuntary word vomit at all the politeness he had been forced to endure since entering the castle. He instantly fixed his eyes to the floor, refusing to look upwards and see the king's no-doubt distrustful face of rage. A heavy silence fell across the room.

However, much to everyone's surprise, Daphnes released a curt chuckle. Link blinked in slight surprise, braving a glance up from his bowed position.

"I believe that's a trick question, and I choose not to answer it," Daphnes responded with a grin, relaxing in his chair even further as he unfurled his hands.

"It was. My apologies, Your Majesty," Link tried, seizing his opportunity to salvage the situation. At the very least, the king didn't appear to be anymore on guard than he was before.

Link supposed he better get with the killing sooner rather than later, as it was painfully clear that he wasn't to be trusted as time went on. He tensed his left hand, leaving it inconspicuously close to his boot from his crouched position. The fact that the King had a sword on him was indefinitely the most dangerous part of this whole debacle. While he _was_ old, Link had to remember that this was the same man who cut down the great Ganondorf. Age didn't matter, Daphnes was no slouch.

A sudden, swift knock on the door to the back of the room briefly caught both of their attentions. After the distraction though, Link's eyes flicked back to the king.

"I must also apologize for _my_ trick question," Daphnes admitted suddenly, "I already know something of your desires," He continued, giving Link an inquisitive look.

"Oh?" The Gerudo responded vaguely, careful to offer only slight interest on the matter, just in case he was bluffing again.

"Yes. In fact, I believe someone has come to speak on your behalf," With that, the king switched all notice toward the door on the left, motioning for the closest guard to open it.

It was as good an opportunity as any. Daphnes attention was diverted to the doorway and whoever was coming out of it, and Link had a marginal amount of time to act. His left hand dove swiftly into his boot, connecting with the splintery wood as he tightly wrapped his eager hand around it. He stiffly prepared his body to spring into the air, knowing he would have to mount several steps in one leap if he wanted this to work. This was indeed ignoring all the other variables like the guards and how he would make his definite escape, but with Daphne's distracted, he couldn't let this chance slip by, he _wouldn't_. Shifting his feet ever so slightly in preparation to pounce, he-

"Good evening, Father. Good evening, Sir Link."

-He released the spear.

"My dear Zelda! Do come in," Daphnes spoke affectionately, unsurprisingly happy to see his daughter again after her rather long period of absence. Link thoughtfully itched the calf muscle in his boot, before calmly removing his hand and placing it back on his knee, "We were just discussing your previous escort's subject of payment."

"Wonderful," Zelda chimed in her melodic voice. Though Link should have been infuriated with her presence in the room interrupting his potential _only_ assassination attempt, he felt himself being strangely reassured by the familiar sound of her voice. That didn't mean he wasn't still rightfully ticked off, however.

Link flicked his gaze upwards at the pair of Nohansens, only to be taken slightly aback by what he saw. Zelda looked completely different from the last time they were together. Clearly that entire span of time since they had been separated had been spent making the Princess look presentable, because _Holy Din_.

Zelda wore a simple, yet elegant silk purple dress that extended all the way to the floor, a darker purple corset with white designs hugging her middle. Her hair was meticulously manipulated into a swirling up-do, with pearls woven in at seemingly random, and topped off with a sophisticated, silver, jeweled tiara. She also had an extensive coat of carefully done makeup covering her face, making it look intimidatingly flawless as she offered Link a contained, almost unfamiliar smile.

He was actually taken aback for a second, having maybe seen her without dirt smeared all over her body once before in his life, this being the second time. He had to remind himself why he was there in the first place as she slid a white gloved hand over her throne and took her seat.

"So," Daphnes prompted once again, "Tell us what you want as a reward."

Link still hadn't taken his eyes off the princess when she gave him a silent nod, raising her perfect brow slightly as if in an effort to remind him to speak. The Gerudo cleared his throat, finally switching his gaze back to the king. It seemed like it was time for plan A again.

"I humbly request citizenship to your great country of Hyrule," Link told him, bowing his head to the ground after he spoke, "When I found the Princess, she was at the border of Termina and Hyrule. I am not a citizen of either country."

"Well then, what country are you from?" Daphnes questioned suspiciously, sitting up in his chair as he processed Link's request. It was evident that Zelda told Daphnes at least something of what Link was going to ask for by the complete lack of surprise displayed by him.

"Hyrule, technically," Link explained, before adding, "I was an orphan without any official documentation or knowledge of my parents, but my earliest memories extend back to me living in Hyrule. Though I've wandered between countries since," Link admitted in his briefly thought out, but still completely bullshited, story. Frustratingly, Link feared the look Zelda was giving him gave them away, with her lips pursed inwards and her eyes wide as she listened to his tale. Link tried to ignore her in mild irritation, though from their time together it was evident to him that she was trying to conduct a lie in her head so that she could join the conversation.

"You're a traveler then?" Daphnes asked, and Link nodded in agreement at the inquisition as the King continued on, "Are you sure you want to commit yourself loyally to _one_ country? To one Monarchy?"

"I no longer have any desire for traveling, and want nothing more than to settle down in Hyrule," Link responded as if it were the most simple thing in the world.

"You're still very young," Daphnes proceeded in his skeptical tone, "Are you quite sure of this decision? Why Hyrule?" Link couldn't stop himself from breaking out into a slight grin as he brought out the grade A bullshit.

"Yeah, it's true that I've been all over the world," He admitted, before adding "But all that did was show me that I belong in Hyrule." The King squinted his eyes in thought as he took in Link's words, before finally gesturing for the Gerudo to stand up. Link gladly did as instructed as he felt significantly more comfortable in the less degrading position.

"All of this is well and good," Daphnes told the now upright Link in front of him, "But what about loyalty to the royal family?" There was a brief silence as Link prepared a response to this question, to which Daphnes used as an opportunity to reiterate, "Are you loyal to the _Nohansens_?" He inquired, leaning forward in his chair to inspect Link while he made the reply. Sucking in a breath to answer, he was once again cut off.

"You shouldn't question that, Father," The Zelda's dulcet voice spoke up from her perch beside the king, "A countless number of times, Link risked his life to bring me back safely. He has more than proved himself not only loyal to Hyrule, but to the crown. In fact-" Zelda panned her vision to and from Link as she said this, focusing on the king who appeared to be taking her words very seriously, "I trust no one man more than him in all of Hyrule. You have my word on that."

Link couldn't hide the surprise on his face. She certainly seemed sincere, and for the first time since they met, Link wasn't actually positive if she was lying or not. He didn't have much time to read into her words of loyalty however, as Daphnes decided to switch his attention back to Link.

"Well… you heard my daughter," The King began, tone implying that the matter had been finalized, "I've learned to trust in her wisdom. So, Link, you will be awarded official citizenship papers at the earliest opportunity," Daphnes confirmed with a dismissive nod, before shooting a surprising smile at the Gerudo, "And by the way, might I suggest staying in Castle Town for a while? It really is a beautiful place… when you can legally be there," Link couldn't miss the slight dig that Daphnes threw in there towards his illegal presence in the country. Link also supposed that meant it was a terrible time to ask his next question, but obviously did so anyways.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty," he started, and then offered a smile of his own, "Actually though, that's not all I wanted from you."

"Excuse me?" Daphnes furrowed his brow, understandably not expecting someone who knew they were lucky to get such a large favor out of him to ask for more.

"Well I _did_ return your lovely daughter home safely, a feat that I would think merited just a _bit_ more penance than that," Link remarked cheekily. Zelda's eyes widened as she shook her head ever-so-slightly at him in a desperate warning for him to stop talking. Link ignored her.

Though Daphnes once again appeared to allow this audacious behavior as he snorted in amusement. A slight smile remained on his face as he responded, "What did you have in mind then, Boy?" His icy eyes challenging Link, as if daring him to keep trying his patience.

"Let me _prove_ my loyalty to Hyrule, and to you," Link began, suddenly solemn as he gazed directly into the eyes of the man who he oh-so despised, "I humbly request to join Hyrule's Military."

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**And so, after a mere ten chapters of development... major themes start to appear! **

**As always, thank you for reading and let me know what you thought in a review, by favoriting or by following! **


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N Hello again my lovely readers!**

**Sorry about the wait, but I have good news! The reason this chapter took me so long is because I _finally_ got myself a beta (two in fact!), and this was only delayed slightly because of scheduling conflicts. Actually, I felt kinda bad about postponing this for so long, so this hasn't _completely_ been edited by anyone else yet. I just decided to go ahead and post now, change things later... heh.**

**Also, I'm going to be working with one of my wonderful betas on editing my older chapters as well! So that means I'll probably be making some bigger changes like deleting the prologue soon. If that had any significant emotional impact on you, I apologize deeply. It probably didn't though, because it's not that necessary to the rest of the story (:**

**I'll also be adding in a few more things to earlier chapters, I'll keep you updated!**

**I truly am sorry I made you wait so long for this, but more good news! I have another chapter already written, so hopefully that'll be out to you all in the short span of two weeks or so! Then again... what is my word really worth at this point... I do my best.**

**Until then, please enjoy this chapter! I was extremely eager to write since it has a lot of character introduction, and it definitely is more representative of what future... I guess 'Castle Town Arc' chapters will be like. Let me know what you think!**

**I don't own LoZ**

* * *

"Step right up and get your authentic fairies! Harvested straight from Kokiri Forest! A companion that's guaranteed to heal you better than any potion!"

The street vendor boasted to passing customers, gesturing wildly at the neatly stacked material displayed in jars behind him. A few passersby stopped to examine his claim, their eyes sparkling in wonder as they saw the pink pixies shimmering in their glass prisons.

"Oh!" Someone exclaimed, pointing at one of the clear bottles. It appeared to contain a fairy that didn't quite resemble the others. "That one's blue! What does it do?" They asked with wonder seeping into their words.

"Ah, I'm glad you asked that actually-"

"Nothing!" The blue spec in the jar suddenly spoke in a larger than life voice, "I won't do squat for you! I don't heal, I don't fight, and I am certainly _not_ your companion!"

"It talks?"

"Th-that's because it has special powers brought about by being cursed in the lost woods!" The vendor offered quickly. "She's rare, can't let her go for less than a hundred rupees!" He told them. The resulting hungry gazes of the customers only proceeded to anger the little fairy even further.

"He's lying! I don't have any powers at all!" The blue fae protested, knocking on her glass container in anger. "And I'm worth _way_ more than a hundred rupees! You sniveling little-"

The people observing the spectacle gasped, switching their attention to the vendor in surprise. The man laughed nervously, swiftly stepping in front of the protesting fairy's jar and batting at it in order to make her stop talking.

"She's quite the jokester!" He attempted to salvage the situation, but the observing people had already lost interest in the swindler. The shopkeeper watched in horror as his potential buyers filed away from his shop, disgust written on their faces. "Wait!" He tried, calling after them, "I sell different fairies! Silent ones-!"

It was in vain of course. The vendor took one dejected look around at his empty shop-post, before turning around to glance at the source of his misfortune with murder in his eyes.

"Keep your damn mouth shut or I'll shut it for you," He threatened vaguely, picking up the jar in order to properly glare at the fae trapped inside. The fairy however, huffed indignantly at his threats.

"I'm just being honest, _you're_ the one trying to rip people off!" she pointed out, folding her tiny arms over her chest and looking away from him with her nose in the air.

"The sooner I sell you, the sooner we're both rid of each other," The man grumbled, placing the jar down in annoyance, "So shut the hell up why don't you, and let me do my job."

"I'm _not_ a fairy sprite!" The blue fairy cried in annoyance, "I don't deserve to be manhandled like this! Do you even know who I am!? I'm my own person! I'm a Kokiri Guardian! I serve The Great Deku Tree! I-" The shopkeeper massaged his temples in annoyance, doing his best to tune out the shrill voice as it kept going on about being 'unjustly stripped from her rightful home only to be sold off like some undeserving slave.'

"Quite the pesky sprite you got there," The vendor eagerly whipped his head around at the sudden noise, facing the potential customer with a considerably brightened mood. The person who had approached him was no ordinary Hylian. The customer was dressed head to toe in fine silver armor, the symbol of the royal family displayed proudly on the man's chest. This, coupled with the glamorous shield strapped to his back and the boastful sword hanging from his waist, made it clear that this person was a soldier.

"Oh! Good Sir!" The vendor did a quick bow in a clear attempt at kissing up to the man in front of him. People who worked in the Hylian Army were almost always guaranteed to be wealthy, which was just perfect for the thrifty shopkeeper. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm actually pretty interested in that blue fairy you've got there," The man began, nodding to the glass jar that he had just been having a conversation with. The vendor saw the immediate offense taken on the fairy's face, so before she could start yelling he quickly intervened.

"Are you sure," He started quickly, cutting the fae off, "She's unique, and mighty expensive."

"I think I can handle that," The soldier mentioned, his words so blatantly overconfident that the vendor almost had to suppress an eye-roll, "Just tell me, what does it even do?"

"I won't do _anything_ for scum like you!" The fairy protested, quickly becoming riled up again, "Trying to buy me? _Me_? I'll have your hat for that! Snatch it right off your head!" She threatened. The soldier blinked in surprise.

"Seems to me like it should be a _discount_ fairy," He gave a side eyed look to the shopkeeper, who wasn't entirely sure how to handle the present situation.

"I- I'm afraid I can't let her go for anything less than two hundred rupees," He bluffed, deciding to ignore the objecting fairy behind him as best he could. The soldier in front of him shrugged, casually turning on his heel as he began to walk away from the pixie shop.

"Suit yourself," He hummed.

"W-wait!" the vendor shouted immediately, "It's yours for _a hundred fifty_ rupees!" This caught the soldiers attention as he slowed, spinning back around.

"Fifty rupees."

"One twenty five."

"One hundred, and you throw in the empty bottle."

"Deal!" The shopkeeper practically shouted, briskly grabbing hold of the captured fairy and holding it out for the Hylian to take. The soldier almost begrudgingly handed over the money, but the vendor didn't exactly give him time to reconsider as he instantly made the trade, swiping the rupees from the soldier's hand before he even had the chance to set it on the table.

"You _bargained_ for me!?" The fairy reproved as the solider held her up to eye level, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Let me out of here _now_!"

He took another glance at the vendor, who suddenly seemed too preoccupied with packing up his shop to pay him any attention, "Your problem now," He muttered, purposefully ignoring the look he was getting as he shoved the remaining pink sprites into boxes.

Sighing, the soldier began to make his way out of the market place, only half heartedly listening to the string of complaints coming from the fairy as they walked. Once the pair entered town square however, the man seemed to have had enough. He stopped walking for a moment, lifting the bottle in the air to make eye contact.

"-Don't even belong here! He kidnapped me from Kokiri Forest and now I'm trapped! Buying me makes you an accessory to a crime and-"

Rolling his eyes, the Hylian Soldier grasped for the bottle's tightly pressed in cork, swiftly yanking it out. Miraculously, this caused the fairy to stop talking.

"You're free or whatever," The soldier said, turning the bottle upside down as he forced her to fall out of it. "You're welcome," He then proceeded to walk away from the flabbergasted fae, who hesitated only a moment before floating after him.

"W-wait," She started, catching up to him with ease. The man looked over his shoulder in partial surprise, and partial annoyance. "You're just gonna leave me here? In the middle of Castle Town?" She protested.

"Pretty much," The soldier offered non-committedly, still pushing through the crowd of people as if determined to get somewhere.

"Why did you even buy me then!" The fairy exclaimed, zipping in front of him in an effort to catch his attention. He frown at her, but continued on anyways.

"I needed a new bottle," He offered simply, picking up the pace as he attempted to lose the pixie in the crowd. But alas, she was having none of that.

"Well why didn't you just buy one for cheaper!" She demanded, crossing her arms at him indignantly.

"Because, shut up," the soldier was becoming visibly agitated with her constant badgering, fighting himself not to swat her away.

"No!" The fairy retorted, "Like it or not, you're responsible for me now!"

"What's with you?" The man asked defeatedly, honestly confused at what was going on inside the little fairy's mind as he finally stopped walking, "You're _free_ now! That's all you were whining about five minutes ago!"

The fairy shook her head at him, suddenly appearing insecure. "How am I supposed to get home?"

"You have _wings_," He pointed out as if it was the most obvious solution in the world.

"I can't fly all the way to the Kokiri woods!" She exclaimed, seemingly terrified by the idea, "I'll die!"

"What a shame," he remarked, starting up his walk again.

"Please!" The fairy zoomed after him, refusing to relent as the man let out an audible sigh of frustration, "You can't just leave me!" She continued desperately, "Please let me stay with you! At least until I find a way back home! I'm helpful I swear!"

"Helpful how?" The soldier humored her, if only to keep the fairy from begging.

"I know everything about everything," She said, a little bit of boastfulness seeping into her tone, "So if you need information on a person or a thing, I can help you!" The soldier scoffed at that, as if laughing at a joke.

"I'm afraid I already have one of those," He told her, grinning, "But thanks for the offer." The fairy realized she needed to change tactics, flying directly in front of his face and looking utterly devastated; she began to beg.

"_Please_ please please please-"

"Oh my Din could you just-"

"Please please please please-"

"Seriously cut it-"

"Please please please please-"

"_Alright_!" The man finally relented, throwing up his hands in exasperation, "Just shut up already!"

"Yay!" She squealed, flying up to give the man a quick peck on the cheek, "My name's Navi!"

"Link," The soldier muttered, ruefully wondering how he could have possibly gotten himself into this mess. He politely nodded to a Castle Guard as they grew more near Hyrule's infamous palace, realizing suddenly that he should probably stop arguing with the tiny fairy in public or else risk looking crazy. Thankfully, Navi settled herself down on Link's shoulder, happy to have gotten her way.

The pair was now swiftly climbing a long set of familiar, tidy marble steps. Their exchange had lasted for quite a while, almost offering Link enough time to reach his destination.

"So what are we doing?" Navi asked eagerly from her perch on Link. He sighed, wondering how much harder this was going to be with a fairy nagging him the entire time.

"Not we," he corrected. "_You're_ going to keep hidden, and stay quiet," Link told her, opening up his pouch in request for her to fly in. Navi pouted.

"But-"

"If you're going to stay with me, this is how we do it!" Link snapped, holding the pouch open with more vigor now. Navi sighed, but relented surprisingly quickly, concealing herself in his pouch with little effort.

"Happy now?"

"Ecstatic."

They passed through the grand stone columns that represented entry to the royal gardens, an action that was practically commonplace for Link by now. Once they made way into the extremely well-kept field however, the Gerudo was finally given sight of the commotion going on up ahead.

Dozens of members of Hyrule's Royal Army had gathered to observe the spectacle unfolding before them, Link was simply late to the party. The soldiers gathered were making rowdy noises of excitement, cheering on their respective bets for winning, and just being overall boisterous. Link rushed up to them in anticipation, eager to see exactly what they were all so restless about.

In the middle of the fray of people, on a newly built arena, stood two men. Ruthlessly, these men clashed their swords together in periodically timed and precise movements, each one of them desperately trying to land a hit which would knock the other off the the stage. Yup, this was right up Link's ally.

One of the men was dressed recognizably, probably a Lieutenant in the Hylian Army judging by his particular armor and decorations. The other however, seemed to be far more extravagantly garbed. His armor was an unfamiliar bronze, and his sword was abnormally large, seemingly dense and heavy. Link found himself instantly envious of the item as it slashed after the Lieutenant's own, berating his shield with immense force. In fact, the Lieutenant appeared to be _losing_.

Yes, this was Link's ally indeed.

The Gerudo analyzed the fight with a delightedly observant gaze. The man in bronze had incredible reflexes, bringing his shield up to defend every blow that the Lieutenant could manage, while simultaneously lashing out with his hulking sword into the more easily penetrable defense that his opponent was putting up.

The thrill was almost sexual when the bronze soldier finally created his opening, forcing a weak spot in the Lieutenant's defense as he slashed expertly upwards with his sword, and outwards with his shield. This action caused the decorated army Lieutenant to stumble, and allowed the bronzed knight to thrust his sword forwards, stopping only a hair away from the man's throat.

The cheers of excitement were instantaneous. Link, not one to be left out, also shouted in appreciation as the man took off his helmet and did several bows.

"Ak! What's going on up there?" He heard Navi ask from his pouch, braving a tiny peak outwards as she lifted the top of his pouch slightly. Before he could reprimand her however, another matter caught his attention.

"Link! What are you doing here?" The Gerudo switched his notice to the source of the noise, offering a friendly smile when he recognized the young soldier who was speaking to him.

"Oh! Hey Garrett," The two Hylian Guards greeted one another with some odd fist pound that Link had noticed all of the soldiers liked to do for some reason. "You didn't think General stick-up-her-ass could keep me from the only interesting thing to happen all week, did you?" The other soldier laughed, shaking his head wistfully at Link's words.

"I don't know why I ever doubted you," Garrett shook his head wistfully, before curiously adding. "But, I'm still surprised she let you come to this. I thought you were on indefinite suspension because of-"

"Oh _that_! No it was all a misunderstanding!" Link cut in quickly, a bead of sweat involuntarily forming on his forehead. The soldier raised a brow at him, before shrugging it off and turning his attention back to the far more interesting sight on the arena. Another highly respected officer in the army had stepped up to the plate, challenging the bronze soldier to a battle.

"For you, my love!" The bronze knight proclaimed, gesturing upwards at something Link had failed to notice, what with all of the sword fighting and such.

Seated in a high balcony overlooking the arena, were a few of Hyrule's most notorious aristocrats. Most were dukes and duchesses, all dressed in fine robes as they regarded the sight before them with peaked interest. Though in the middle of the noble lords and ladies, was one woman in particular who Link happened to know very well.

"Princess Zelda is here!" He heard Navi's high pitched voice breathe out excitedly. He swiftly patted his pouch in order to keep her from talking.

"Who is this guy?" Link abruptly questioned, sudden distrust in his tone as his gaze flicked to the unknown swordsman while he put his helmet back on.

"You mean the bad ass?" Garrett asked jokingly, prodding Link's arm slightly as he grinned. The Gerudo wasn't showing any sign of amusement, so he coughed awkwardly and elected to answer the question, "That's the Prince of Labrynna, he's supposedly the best sword fighter in his country."

"Supposedly," Link repeated with a cocky grin. It seemed that all these royals like calling themselves 'the best sword fighter,' though Link had a sneaking suspicion it was an exaggeration, by all accounts. The other shrugged, a little confused by the change in mood, though neither one of them addressed it as the new duel started up and they switched their focus to that.

Link observed the fight with an even more critical eye than before as he watched the man battle. He was good, there was no denying that, and his fancy sword certainly helped in that department as he wielded it maliciously. However, the Prince fought too familiarly, possibly too confidently, and continuously left micro openings in his defense that a _skilled_ enough sword fighter could easily dispel. For example, he would take a step forward too early, leaving his side exposed. Or he would use his shield as a way to disengage, leaving his entire midsection exposed.

As Link was picking apart the Prince's few mistakes, the man found his opponent's weak point and pivoted the hilt of his sword into the other's stomach, causing the officer to fall on his back. The cheers started up again, but this time Link wasn't so eager to join as his gaze continued to burn metaphorical holes into the Prince.

"As if _that_ wasn't enough," The soldier beside him began excitedly, clapping appreciatively at the display, "He's even engaged to _Princess Zelda_."

Link practically choked on air. "_What_?" He sputtered, whipping his head around to face the person beside him, who was quickly being swept away in the moment.

"I know right? How lucky can you get!" The soldier managed, before becoming too preoccupied with cheering to engage in further conversation. Navi took this as her cue to speak.

"_That's_ Prince Cassius of Labrynna?!" Navi let out a sigh as she watched the man take off his helmet and bow, "He's so… dreamy," Link scowled.

"You know who he is?" He muttered quietly as to not look crazy. The little fairy nodded, "Then why don't we capitalize on our deal, Miss 'I know everything.'"

"You mean, what do I know about _him_?" She squirmed slightly at the proposition, as if uncomfortable while she picked though her memory. "Well, he's acting Prince Regent right now since his grandfather, the current king, is too old and sick to run the country," Link shifted his attention back to the smiling man as he annoyingly basked in the shower of praise befalling him, "It's only a matter of time before he becomes king."

"What about Zelda," Link pressed, looking at Navi again, who appeared to need clarification. Link pointed his thumb at the soldier who was only a little ways away from him, "He said they were engaged."

"They're engaged?!" Navi blurted out, before collecting herself. "I mean, er-, yes, they're engaged," Link's scowl deepened. "Last I heard he was courting her but… that is the natural sequence of events I suppose."

Eventually, the whoops and cheers died down, and Prince Cassius was left alone on stage, without another challenger to face. "Any takers?" The prince asked arrogantly, scanning the crowd for a brave soul who might wish to engage him. "Oh come now, my welcome tournament isn't over _already_ is it?" The prince teased, gaining a slight chuckle from the audience.

An exceptionally stupid idea budded in Link's mind.

"I'll go."

The prince pointed a gloved hand at the source of the noise, a huge smile on his face as he gestured for the volunteer to come onto the arena. Link grinned back, taking only a few steps forwards before Navi had zipped out of her hiding place in his leather bag.

"_Are you cra_-wha!" Link swiftly plucked the fairy out of the air and stuffed her in his shirt, hoping she would actually sit _still_ in there. Luckily, no one seemed to take notice of this action as he made his way through the crowd. His soldier companion Garrett looked downright concerned at this, but he at least kept his comments to himself. The crowd grew quiet as Link climbed up onto the arena and they noticed his lowly solider uniform.

The Prince was about the same height as Link, maybe even the same build, though it was hard to tell under all of that armor. He had lightly curled brown hair, which somehow wasn't flattened by use of the helmet. His skin was darker than most nobles Link had seen, and he supposed that was evidence of him being outside often, probably for training purposes. The prince's green eyes were filled with mirth as Link approached, he took one look at his soldier uniform and couldn't help but laugh at the Gerudo's arrogance.

"My, my, what is this?" He said in a snickering voice. "They're letting commoners challenge me now?" Link simply smirked as Cassius taunted him, even as crowd started snickering along with the Prince. To the sides of the arena, there were both Hylian and Labrynnan guards alike, the latter of which didn't seem to find Link's stunt so amusing.

"If you're too afraid to lose to me, I understand," He remarked, shrugging his shoulders. The Prince rolled his eyes as their audience continued to find the exchange amusing.

"Hylian army or not, you're still a peasant," The Prince made a shooing motion with his hand. "I would advise you to step down," with that, the Labrynnan guards appeared to have had enough as they started to make their way around to his side of the arena, pleasantries probably not their intention. The Gerudo gulped as they pointed their spear tips at him, the crowd abruptly falling silent.

"Okay, so I didn't think this through," He admitted quietly to Navi as the fairy glared up at him from under his breastplate. Before he could actually do anything though, another voice rippled through the scene.

"Link, do as he says!" Both the Prince and the Gerudo King looked up in surprise at the outburst, searching for its source. Directly above them, a not-so-collected princess was standing up from her usual, refined throne position, obviously feeling uneasy about the events unfolding below. The noblemen around her regarded Zelda with shock, at a loss for what to do about her behavior. Though no one was quite as shocked as Prince Cassius.

It was now that the otherwise silent crowd finally began to speak up. "Link! I recognize that name," one of the high ranking captains began, thankfully voguing for the impulsive swordsman. "You're the lad who rescued the princess and brought her home to us!"

A few mutters of understanding befell the throng as some of them began to accept the events unfolding before them, namely the insubordinate behavior displayed by Link. Just as the Gerudo was starting to admit to himself that maybe this wasn't his best idea ever, the Prince cleared his throat, ultimately coming to terms with the situation himself.

"Peasant Link, forgive me for not recognizing you," Cassius spoke up, though his voice was dry and seemingly non-apologetic. "You're the one who saved my dearest Zelda, the least I can do is offer you a friendly battle," Link had a feeling that this wouldn't really be all that friendly. After all, he did just embarrass the Prince in front of his supposed future subjects. As the Labrynnan guard finally stepped down, Link let out a breath of air he didn't realize he had been holding.

"I'm sure you won't lose any sleep over it," Link chimed, smiling at the man good-naturedly despite his biting comment.

"Good to know the stranger I'm trusting my life to is _completely insane_," Navi hissed from her hiding spot. The voice surprised him, so he turned his head slightly to see she had navigated and was now crouching under his shoulder armor. This caused him to grin as he switched attention back to the now stoic-faced Prince who was in the middle of unsheathing his mighty sword.

In another moment that border-lined brave with sheer idiocy, Link unsheathed his own sword as well, holding it in his _right_ hand firmly as he strapped his shield to his _left_ arm. Nothing inconspicuous about that, right?

_Right_?

As he did this, Link flicked his gaze upwards to Zelda, who was now sitting back down in her throne in silent rage. If he could fathom a guess, he would say that she was hoping he would have backed down from his foolhardy challenge while he was ahead. Unable to help himself, Link blew a mock kiss in her direction, which immediately caused the princess to turn red, cracking her professional visage yet again. He was more than positive that it was in anger, but no one else needed to know that.

The Prince's emotionless face melted into one of annoyance at that, electing to skip his own declaration to the princess as his focus lay solely with Link.

The duel mediator, who had been awkwardly standing there throughout the entire exchange, now hesitantly decided it was a good time to start the match. Cautiously, he raised his own decorative sword above his head, taking a brief look at the two swordsmen who gazes were unwaveringly locked on one another.

"Challengers ready?" The referee asked, looking between the two as they approached one another slowly.

"I'd wipe that grin off your face before I do it for you," The prince hissed quietly, clearly growing more and more agitated by the minute.

"Ooo," Link sassed with a wiggle of his eyebrow. "Somebody's projecting."

The prince did not seem impressed with this observation.

The mediator appeared to take their quiet mocks as a yes. Swiftly, the man brought his sword down, the metallic clang resonating against the ground and signifying the start of the fight.

Instantly, Prince Cassius swung his sword around the top of Link's head, as if aiming to split it open. The Gerudo slid his shield upwards and blocked the attack with perfect timing, causing the surrounding crowd to gasp unexpectedly. The fire in Cassius' eyes grew even more bright as he had to suddenly avoid a slash from Link's own sword, blocking with his shield.

Before either one of them had a chance to gather their bearings, Cassius disengaged and went for another go. Link sidestepped this one, spinning his sword around to catch the Prince in the side. However, Cassius just managed to avoid the slash by moving his sword downward and blocking, whirling his body around to once again engage Link head on.

The crowd was speechless. The Prince was clearly not messing around this time, and neither one of the competitors had a moment of rest as it was a constant berating of attacks from either end. Strike, pivot, block, counter, slash, roll, spin, repeat.

Cassius ripped his sword into Link's shield repeatedly, the weaker metal likely threatening to break under the constant barrage if things kept up like this. Beats of sweat were forming on Link's brow as the fight continued on. He wasn't expecting this. It wasn't that the prince didn't leave him openings, it was that Link was a half a second to slow to get to them. His left arm expertly blocked every slash that came his way, and his sword was able to sweep away the Prince every time he invaded his space too much, but it was becoming painfully clear that his reaction time was simply too slow.

"Hyaaah!" Cassius let out a deep battle cry, slamming his hefty sword down on Link's shield so hard he felt the reverberations travel all the way up his arm. This was bad. His shield really didn't have much time left, and the Prince knew it.

After a few long moments of this dangerous dance, Cassius did something exceedingly unexpected. Taking away attention from Link's shield all together, the Prince took a surprise swipe to the left with all of his power. Understanding set in as Link realized he had to swivel his body to get away, though to no avail. The Prince had landed a hard, unforgiving hit on the side of Link's arm, forcing him to drop his sword as a devastatingly numb feeling set in all throughout his limb. He couldn't move it at all. In fact, the hit was so strong Link had to do a double take to make sure he didn't lose the arm all together.

The hit had cracked his metal armor, but it hadn't lobbed off his arm, thank Farore. The surprise at the hit was all the Prince needed to seize his opportunity, now thrashing even more wildly as he aimed to destroy Link's only remaining protection.

The Gerudo instinctively switched into a more agile defense. Attempting to put more faith in his ducks and dodges than the durability of his shield, Link was forced to avoid the expertly timed sword strikes with a goddess damned gimp arm flapping beside him.

Cassius still hadn't given him an inch, even with his abundance of dodges and constant evasion, he was somehow still always on top Link. While his shield was under another aggressively brutal beating, Link stole a glance at the discarded sword behind the Prince. His only chance in this match was to somehow make his way back to the precious metal, and Link knew it. That realization of course, was right about when his shield let out a devastatingly loud _crack_.

It was official. He had fucked up.

"Any last words?" Prince Cassius added snidely as he continued putting pressure on Link's fractured Hylian shield. The Gerudo swallowed, unclenching his jaw in order to respond as he forced his gaze to remain on the prince, and not the precious weapon that lay in wait behind him.

"I-" Link started, hearing the shield crack louder this time as he brought his limp hand in to desperately pull at the straps that binded Link arm to the metal object, "-am not-" another crack echoed in his ears, "-right handed."

The slight confusion on the Prince's face left Link a half second window of opportunity. Pushing out with both hands, much to the protest of his right arm, Link slid the Prince's sword over the top of the shield, causing Cassius to stumble due to the immense pressure, and allowing Link to roll forward, briskly discarding his damaged shield on the ground, and re-equipping his old friend.

The Prince whipped around in annoyance at his plan being throttled, only to see that Link had elected to ditch his best form of defense. Smiling wickedly, the prince charged at him again, full force.

"You think fancy sword tricks can save you now?" Cassius called, slamming his weapon into Link's own as he masterfully blocked it, tilting his sword edge slightly so that the pressure the prince was applying caused his blade to slide off of Link's own, allowing him opportunity to slash the opening that the Prince left in his defense.

"Honestly-" Link began between sword slashes, his grin returning as squeezed the familiar hilt in his hand. "Yes."

The Prince was becoming visibly more nervous as he continued to attempt to hit Link in every which way, though all to no avail. Link was more used to blocking with a sword after all, and the sudden change in battle style had done it's job in throwing the Prince off his groove. As expected, since it was _highly_ unlikely he was familiar with this kind of battle technique.

The Gerudo was the one pushing forward now, causing Cassius to have to take those unfamiliar steps backwards as he struggled to hold his defense.

Desperately, the Prince tried his most lethal move one more time, a straight hammer hit to Link's head. Link lifted his sword, angling it so that when the prince's weapon impacted, he was able to slide under the clanging metal, bringing his sword upwards with him as he ended with the rim of his blade a mere inch from Prince Cassius' neck.

The silence immediately following was almost painful. The only thing anyone could hear was the labored sound of panting from both Link and Prince Cassius alike. Finally, the prince released hold of his weapon, the noise almost deafening as the massive object clinked awkwardly against the arena floor.

The crowd erupted in a fit of cheers, the immense roar drowning out any sound thereafter as Link slowly pulled his sword away from the Prince's pounding throat. Neither one of them spoke, Cassius simply stared at the Gerudo in open confusion at what just happened, while Link listlessly stared back.

That was when he noticed a sudden pressure on his own neck, feeling distinct pain as his arms were roughly yanked behind his body. What were once cheers of excitement, abruptly transformed into roars of disapproval, and that's when Link realized what was happening.

"You've got to be kidding!"

"All because he won?!"

"He beat the Prince fair and square!"

But the Labrynnan guards were having none of that, "You are under arrest for attempted assassination on Prince Cassius' life, Peasant," They reported almost robotically into Link's ear. The Gerudo felt a sudden onslaught of anger, glaring down at the defeated prince, who surprisingly seemed just as shocked by the actions of his guard as the Hylian soldiers below them.

"Seriously?" Link growled down at the speechless prince, who switched his gaze to the detained man in front of him. His expression held an uncertainty that further pissed Link off. Was this guy kidding?

"Unhand him at once!" The princess, once again helpfully called down from her high perch overlooking the gardens. For all intensive purposes, Zelda looked like she was ready to jump down if she had to.

"We are not under your authority, Princess," one of the douche-guards was kind enough to inform her, while another tightened his hold on the injured Link, causing him to uncharacteristically wince.

"That's absurd!" Okay he was kidding before, but the Princess literally looked like she was a half a second from jumping off of the balcony now. A few nobles saw it too, as they were attempting to hold her back while she leaned her body over the railing in order to yell at them properly.

"I repeat, we are not under your authority," The guards began to lead Link off of the arena in a frustratingly degrading fashion, forcing him to simply grit his teeth and deal with the embarrassment.

"Why don't you listen to my daughter," A cool, deep voice cut through the shouts of protest with ease, practically quieting everyone simultaneously. The guards containing Link immediately released their hold on him.

"Yes your Majesty," They offered, bowing to King Daphnes as he continued to walk forward. Everyone else in the vicinity took a knee at the man's presence, and Link followed suit, honestly grateful for the intervention.

"Rise," The king said, boredom lacing his tone as he switched his expression to the still shell-shocked Prince Cassius on the arena beside them, "Son, I'm surprised at you," The king began, causing the Prince to finally snap out of his stupor as he regarded the king with just the slightest hint of fear. "You agreed to battle him, did you not?"

"You're right your majesty," he said, shaking his head slightly as he spoke. "I apologize to you, and my Princess for the hesitancy. I was… surprised."

The king let out a soft grunt of amusement. "Can't say I blame you," Daphnes then shot a pointed look at Link with those words, before switching back to the Prince. "But all is forgiven."

Cassius let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you your majesty," he managed, collecting himself further as the situation dwindled. The King nodded, stealing yet another glance at Link, before electing to walk up to the Prince and speak to him more privately. Link couldn't hear the conversation that the two of them were having over the slight, confused chatter that had started up again now that all had been absolved.

Link sheathed his sword slowly, taking one last despairing look at his ruined shield. A massive crack extending all the way up the escutcheon had been beaten into it; how, Link had no idea. Honestly, what was that sword made out of? Diamonds?

Before Link had time to ponder the thought further however, another distraction quickly lent itself to him.

"We're pleased to have finally found you," a devastatingly familiar voice hissed in Link's ear, startling him as he looked over his shoulder at the absolute last thing he wanted to see.

"General Impa…" Link trailed off, his voice a few octaves higher than he would have preferred as he addressed his superior. Oops.

"Care to explain why you're out here causing assassination threats when you _should_ be back at headquarters appealing for a trial for your _first_ offense this week?" Link laughed uncomfortably as Impa's steel gaze bore down on him. She certainly did not find this as amusing as he did.

"Well, you see-" Link cut himself off as he tried to think of an explanation in order to avoid indefinite castration, "I… didn't think that what I did was that big of a deal?" He tried.

"Link you _maimed_ a superior officer," Impa fumed. Though no matter how angry she became, her voice still retained this unruffled, deep monotone that was utterly terrifying to be on the receiving end of. "You should be thrown in the _dungeon_ for Nayru's sake. The only reason you're _not_ is because of your tide with the princess."

Link scoffed, rolling his eyes at her claims, "I hardly _maimed_ him. It's not like he was going to use it for anything," Impa let out a decisive growl of frustration at this, and seemed as though she was about to actually slap him before collecting herself again.

"I swear to Din, Link," Impa hissed through clenched teeth, annoyance practically radiating off of her body. "I'm getting sick of your attitude. You think you can prance around here and do whatever you want just because the princess will bust you out of it. You're an _inconvenience_," Impa was just ripping into him at this point, her fist clenched in aggravation. It was amazing really, she was so calm and collected most of the time, but Link seemed to completely shatter that front with far too little effort.

Link just didn't understand her problem with him.

"I definitely don't _prance_," He murmured, finding it physically impossible to keep his comments to himself. Impa's eyes shined with fury.

"Link I _swear_ to-"

"Pardon me, General," That same deep, attention grabbing voice cut through their conversation once more, causing even Impa to stop reprimanding. The two of them turned to the king, Link offering a slight bow as he did so, "I'm afraid I'll be taking young Link from you for a few moments," Daphnes told the Sheikah, expression unreadable as always.

"Go right ahead, The woman offered, before shooting one last dagger filled gaze Link's way.

"Come," The king ordered to Link, turning away from him as he began to head toward the castle doors. The Gerudo did as instructed, noticing the slight party of white knights following closely behind them, of course. It wasn't like Daphnes to go anywhere without them, which only made Link's mission that much harder.

"Is it over-?" A slightly sick sounding Navi muttered from underneath his armor, causing Link to quietly shush her while they continued on, the action earning a strange look from the knight next to him.

Link felt a nervous knot forming in his stomach. He really had screwed up a lot in the past month, and he couldn't exactly imagine whatever Daphnes wanted him for to be a good thing. Impa was right. Link simply used Zelda as a fallback whenever he did something especially stupid, one where under normal circumstances, he would be punished. He knew it too, and he wasn't shy to use this to his advantage.

Perhaps he was attracting _too_ _much_ attention. The king, after all, more than knew Link by first name, which would make a sneak attack that much harder. Though surprisingly, he also seemed to find most of Link's antics forgivable, which was strange considering the boys 'unknown' background. That wasn't exactly something that Daphnes was known for overlooking.

Today felt different though, Link was definitely in trouble. How did he know that? Well, his failsafe, Zelda, was nowhere in sight.

The small group made their way to the King's throne room without any interruptions. Daphnes wasted no time in ascending the steps to his trademarked seat, the guard falling into their usual places without needing any cues from their ruler. Link found himself begrudgingly impressed with the sheer level of obedience they displayed. He surveyed the room briefly, swallowing a lump in his throat when he noticed the King's unforgiving eyes burning into him.

"Care to explain what all that was about?" Daphnes asked in his demanding tone, the one which always seemed to make innocent questions sound like death threats. Link let out a brisk sigh.

"I was under the impression that was an open invitation duel?" He tried, his voice steadily rising to a higher pitch as he spoke.

"It was," The king began dismissively, "I was referring to the outcome of the fight," Link shifted uncomfortably as Daphnes leaned back into his throne, seeming to relax into it. Link immediately recognized that as the king's 'detective mode,' "Care to explain what happened there? The whole thing was… rather hard to follow."

In hindsight, perhaps Link shouldn't have been so brazen with his sword skills. "Well… initially I was overconfident and thought I could beat the Prince using my weak hand," Link hoped to the goddesses that this was what Daphnes wanted to hear as the king thoroughly scrutinized his face, portraying no emotion himself. "-But then I realized I couldn't, and then I had to switch to my dominant."

"You fought off Prince Cassius longer than any of _my_ officers… using your _weak_ hand?" Daphnes repeated for clarification. Link nodded slowly.

"Yeah I guess- er, Yes sir," The Gerudo stumbled. He hated these drill sessions with king Daphnes more than anything, and honestly they happened to him more often than he would have liked to admit. Link prided himself on being able to read people and situations, portraying the correct facade in order to win him whatever he wanted. Yet with Daphnes, it was simply impossible to tell what it was that he wanted to hear. This of course made gaining the man's trust a hundred times harder.

"What about a few days ago?" Daphnes pressed on, once again giving no indication of his opinion on Link's explanation, "I heard you were going to request a trial with me because of what happened with Sergeant Favian."

"Oh, yeah," Link said, half to himself. With everything else that was going on, he was mostly hoping that everyone would just forget about that.

"Well, you're here now. Let's hear it," Daphnes told him, almost sounding bored. Link perked a brow.

"I had witnesses," He told the king. Daphnes made no indication of caring however, so Link simply cleared his throat and continued on. "Right, well… I challenged Sergeant Favian to a duel-which he accepted," Link added in quickly. "And then we fought, but then after the fight was over the Sergeant took a swing at me when my back was turned," Link shifted slightly as he tried to figure out exactly how to word his confession. "I heard the attack behind me, and took a blind swing at him and… accidentallycutoffhispinky."

"You-" Daphnes face betrayed him slightly as his brow knit together in confusion. "_Accidentally_ cut off one of my sergeant's fingers?"

"Yes sir…"

The king sighed deeply, massaging his temple as he leaned his head into his fingers. The Gerudo was earnestly feeling a little nervous now. "Really Link, the way I see it is that I have only two options with how to deal with you," Daphnes began, his gaze hardening over as he glared down at the less-than-apologetic young man. "One, is to kill you. Your reckless abandon coupled with your unnatural skill set clearly makes you dangerous," Link felt his heart skip a beat at that, Daphnes purposely paused to inspect Link's reaction before continuing, "The other… is to simply give in and make you one my my knights."

Link practically lost control of his body as he struggled to remain upright, "That's… one hell of an ultimatum," He managed to get out, blinking away his surprise before braving a question. "Would you mind me asking which one you're leaning more toward?"

"Truthfully, killing you would cause a uproar larger than what I'm willing to handle right now," Daphnes admitted. Though despite his words, he really seemed torn between the two options as he stroked his chin in thought, much to the Gerudo's dismay. The king promptly continued. "And to be quite honest Link, you remind me something of myself when I was younger, so I don't want to have to do that."

The Gerudo practically had to bite back laughter at that, attempting to come off as phlegmatic as possible while he forced a response. "I can see the dilemma," He managed with just the slightest hint of mirth.

"However, it's insolence like that which I cannot tolerate among my army ranks," Daphnes pursed his lips in annoyance, forcing Link to take the situation more seriously when he reminded himself that this man could literally have him killed at any second. "Consider this a warning. I will not promote you into the King's Knights without absolute, unequivocal, indisputable certainty that you are loyal to me, and my crown," Daphnes continued, "This includes confirmation from your higher ups, as well as myself personally," The king seemed a little more sincere as he finished his speech. "Get your act together, Son."

"I understand," Link responded in a more somber tone. This wasn't good. The jubilation he should have been feeling at the opportunity to make it into the king's personal guard was saturated with a strong sense of foreboding. His superiors _hated_ him! Though if he simply fled from the army now, it would make it near impossible to regain the chance to assassinate the king. His only option was to be… obedient.

Oh holy Din he could _not_ do this.

"You're dismissed," Daphnes said, tone laced with utter indifference as he shooed Link out with a wave of his hand. The Gerudo offered a brief bow before going to exit the throne room, his chest heavy with a mix of excitement and worry at the new information he was given. It was the exact opportunity he was waiting for. Daphnes would practically be handing his life over to Link if he put him in his guard. Though the question was, could he make it that far?

"What's _with_ you!? Ugh!" A small voice complained from the inside of his clothing, shifting around until it found its way out. "Why couldn't I be stuck with someone who actually values their life?" Whatever emotion Link had been feeling priorly was immediately replaced with irritation.

"_You_ stuck with _me_?" He repeated disbelievingly. Navi paused as she reconsidered her word choice.

"Well… we're stuck with each other," she clarified, earning an annoyed huff from the Gerudo. "At least until someone brings me home anyways," She hinted in a not-so-subtle way.

"Yeah, yeah," Link muttered, rolling his eyes. He really didn't have time for all of this. But the way he saw it, he only had one clear option, no matter how much he didn't want to see that particular person at the moment.

He would had to find Zelda and beg her to bail him out… again.

* * *

**I'm not sure if our protagonist is learning the correct life lessons here.**

**Thank you for reading! As always, feel free to let me know how you felt in a review, or by fav/following. ****I hope to see you again soon! (:**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N**

**Hello again my lovely readers!**

**I figured I should get this chapter out before like, idk 2017, so it's a _little_ short. It's also written from a bunch of different perspectives, and is kind of choppy. Overall, it's a bit different than the pace the rest of the story is used to. But hopefully a good different! **

**In this chapter, we address the issues our heroes have witnessed across Hyrule, and how the Castle is dealing with them(finally)! So prepare for a lot of dialogue! And true to form, the following chapter _will_ be mostly action. **

**I haven't gotten around to editing the early chapters quite yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted when I do! **

**I'd say we're... halfway maybe even past halfway through at this point. Get ready for things to escalate and get real confusing real soon! For now though, please enjoy this surprisingly political installment of HoT! (:**

* * *

"Before we leave, I would like to inquire about the state of the Lake Hylia borders again."

Audible groans rumbled throughout the house of parliament, a few even blatantly rolled their eyes at the request. The man who sat at the head of the meeting sighed with the rest of the group, glancing at the speaker seated across from him.

"We've already sent scouts," he repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, leaning back into his seat, stultified while he explained. "Those 'border lines' were nothing but a local squabble that has already been taken care of. It doesn't require anymore _inquiring_." He told her dismissively, smiling at the Nohansen with a patronizing gleam in his eye. "Besides, I'm sure our Princess has more important things to focus on. There is a royal ball coming up soon, yes?"

A few chuckles could be heard at that. Zelda frustratedly drummed her gloved fingers against the marble table, attempting to retain her professional composure as she glared unabashedly at the head of parliament.

"I require a more formal report than that," she demanded in a cool tone, locking her jaw as she disregarded his comment, "I move to keep this topic open until I personally receive official documentation, signed by the Zora King, in agreement of a formal compromise," This caused the muffled groans and annoyed glances to start again, which she ignored.

"That's quite unnecessary, considering there isn't anything to compromise _on_," Head of Parliament tried again, his smile faltering at her insistence.

"If that's true, then my request is a simple one," she declared, folding her hands in her lap and leaning back in her grandiose seat.

"_Princess-_"

"If it's not plausible then I could always agree upon taking an escort to Zora territory myself," she offered, waving her hand dismissively. "That way, I could personally discuss the grievances I see fit."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," he replied without missing a beat, shaking his head slightly to dismiss the idea.

Zelda swallowed back the slight disappointment that bubbled at his instant reply. "Well then, I don't believe I'm being unreasonable by requesting a simple declaration of peace."

"Not unreasonable at all, Princess," The head of parliament confirmed, his tone short and finalizing after her threat of leaving the castle. If Zelda was being honest, she had used that as a sort of failsafe in parliament lately. She knew the representatives would do anything to avoid upsetting her father, so no matter how stubborn everyone was being, they would instantly start cooperating if she threatened to organize a trip out of the castle. It was a dirty negotiation tactic that was clearly starting to get on their nerves, but at least it got something done. "We'll work on having that for you by next meeting."

"Do that," She prompted, frowning slightly as she realized just how much her persuasion tactics had been starting to mirror her father's.

"If that's all?" The head of parliament intended the question to be to all members, but his eyes were still locked on the princess. Barely resisting the urge to bring up the Goron situation again, she chewed at her bottom lip as everyone else remained silent.

He seemed visibly relieved when she didn't say anything else. "Meeting adjourned," he uttered, quickly banging the gavel. The group of aristocrats hastily started to shuffle out of their seats, clearly grateful that Zelda's intermission hadn't lasted as long as it usually did while they made an orderly hustle out of the building.

The princess hesitated a little longer than the rest, lagging behind as she furrowed her brow in thought. She didn't understand why it was like pulling teeth trying to get anyone to actually _do_ something about her claims. If only to humor her, they'd had the guards at Kakariko redistricted. This of course, wouldn't solve much without a complete shift in opinion of the _villagers_ in Kakariko. The damage had already been done, and the princess feared prejudice toward the Goron people was ingrained deeply. They had to start integrating the Goron culture back into Hyrule in a positive way if they wanted to see real change.

On the Zora end, Parliament assured they'd sent scouts to explore her claims about Lake Hylia being split into two. The claim held that the scouts had found nothing to worry about, and that they'd briefly talked it over with the locals and the Zora's, who were simply not getting along due to overfishing. Once again, an 'agreement' was reached. Allegedly, both problems were solved in less than a week. She supposed it was possible, but it just seemed so unlikely.

Quietly sighing as she collected her thoughts, Zelda picked herself up and began to file out of the room, her mind elsewhere.

The parliament building was an entirely separate section from the majority of Hyrule Castle. The structure was every bit as lavish, though offered the members privacy from the busyness in the castle when they had to deliberate on important matters. Her father usually let Zelda sit in on the meetings alone, though occasionally he would come with her when there were particularly contentious issues that needed discussing. The summits were typically uneventful, and the Princess could understand why he would elect to skip them.

As Zelda made her way out of the legislative building, she was instantly greeted by the shimmeringly bright sun beaming down at her on a flawlessly clear day. She couldn't resist a slight smile as she stepped outdoors, her jilted heels crunching the well-trimmed grass nostalgically. She'd grown to appreciate the short moments she had to herself since coming back to the castle, especially when outside.

After a few moments of admiring the gardens, Zelda's eyes befell an-out-of-place soldier leaning on a column nearest the parliament building. Furrowing her brow as she walked closer to the man, familiar features began to formulate in her vision. Messy blonde hair, broad soldiers, tanned skin; even from the back Zelda recognized him easily.

"Link? Er- _Sir_ Link," The princess sputtered, correcting herself quickly. The man leaning on the column turned around at the sound of her voice, flashing a dreadfully charming grin as soon as his eyes adjusted to her. She felt her face heat up slightly at the slight, though she was certain it was in anger.

"Zelda! Oh thank Din!" He breathed, grabbing her hand as he spoke. Zelda shot him a chastising glare which Link instantly understood. He rolled his eyes, "fine, Princess, your majesty, your grace, whatever." He cleared his throat, hesitating a moment before offering a coy smile as he continued. "So… how've you been?"

"What are you doing here?" Zelda demanded, yanking her hands out of his hold. "Is everything okay? Where've you been? What happened after my father took you away?" She questioned rapidly, shaking her head in frustration before shoving at his breastplate with an accusatory finger. "That was a stupid stunt you nitwit! You could have been thrown in prison! Or worse!"

"Oh, that," Link let out a strained laugh, looking down at his feet as he spoke. "Okay, I'll admit it wasn't my _best_ idea."

"Idiotic, actually," Zelda corrected, crossing her arms over her chest as she felt the anger slowly drain out of her body. She hadn't realized how much anxiety not knowing what happened to Link had caused her until he'd been standing in front of her. "It's all settled now, yes?"

"Define 'settled?'" Link's gaze flicked up to her, looking like a guilty child as he fiddled with his hands uncomfortably.

"Link!"

"I really think I fucked up this time, Zelda!" He admitted finally, his expression cracking into nervousness while she struggled not to wince at his choice in vocabulary. "He's gonna _kill_ me!"

Zelda felt her heart rate quicken in worry, glancing around slightly to see if there was anyone around before latching onto the dejected Link's hand.

"Come here," She told him, leading him to the other side of the parliament building without complaint. She tucked them between a wall of shrubbry as she once again looked around to confirm that there was no one listening. They were still more out in the open then she would have liked, but Zelda supposed it would have to do. "Tell me what happened," She requested lightly, attempting to remain understanding as she took in just how distraught her friend was.

"Daphnes is going to have me _killed_!" Link reiterated, his voice quiet. Zelda made a face at him.

"_Why_ would he do that?" Zelda pressed, more hesitant to take his dilemma seriously as he whined.

"Because Link's an idiot with no regard for his own life, that's why!" A tiny, feminine voice chimed from somewhere around them, causing Zelda to whip around in confusion as she searched for an eavesdropper.

"Ignore it," Link told her dismissively as she sputtered. "Listen, after I beat Prince Douche, your father pulled me aside and told me I was so amazing that I was a threat to the kingdom and would have to be killed."

A puzzled Zelda opened her mouth to refute his claims but Link continued on before she had the chance.

"-Unless my superiors confirm that I should be given knighthood under his order, he doesn't think he can trust me," he finished briskly, eyes searching Zelda's for sympathy.

"You melodramatic prat," Zelda breathed, clutching at her heart as if it were going to give out. Link scoffed.

"Dramatic? Zelda, the king of Hyrule just threatened my life!" He protested, practically whisper-yelling.

"He's just as dramatic as you are!" Zelda exclaimed, massaging her temples with her hands. "He only said that to frighten you into shaping up. Link, this is _good_ news."

"How do you know? You weren't there!" Link prompted, he honestly seemed mildly upset that she wasn't taking this seriously.

"I didn't have to be there," Zelda insisted, "I know my father, and that's just how he is. You're not going to be killed," she let out a breathy laugh, feeling her nerves calm down. "But you certainly _do_ have a flare for the dramatic," she teased.

"Shut up," Link refuted, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips as he shook his head. "Either way, this _isn't_ good news. None of my superiors would ever recommend me, and regardless of what you say I _really_ don't think Daphnes makes idle threats."

Zelda exhaled, shaking her head wistfully at she considered his claims. While he was being undoubtedly histrionic about the whole thing, he did have a point. She highly doubted that her father would ever kill Link, but that didn't mean she knew exactly what he would do if her friend continued to be so brazen and rebellious. It was a miracle he let Link be so… Link, for long as he had. It was most likely that Daphnes would kick Link out of the Hylian army, maybe even take away his citizenship if he was feeling particularly callous. The thought made Zelda take on a more somber tone as she chewed her thumbnail in thought.

"_Princess? Princess, are you out here?_" The shout of a servant caused Link to groan in annoyance, though Zelda appeared to have not heard the call as her face lit up in realization.

"Impa's your superior, right?" She asked, knowing full well what the answer was. Link simply scoffed.

"Zelda let's be real here," he insisted, grinning slightly as if she had just made a joke.

"I am!" She maintained, practically beaming as an idea budded in her mind. "I think if I talk to her, she might reconsider recommending you."

"I don't think you're understanding me," Link tried again, the mirth in his tone completely gone now as he shot her a look of warning. "General Impa hates me more than _any_ of my other superiors. Or… anyone at all for that matter."

Zelda waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it," she told him, allowing herself to feel a twinge of excitement for the first time about Link's probable promotion as she began to make her way out into the open. She was sure he was exaggerating. "Leave it to me."

Link seemed like he was planning to argue further, but Zelda had already pushed her way out of the shrubbery, catching the eye of the servant searching for her as she started for the the entrance to the castle, and leaving a pouting Link behind. Zelda had known Impa practically since birth. There was no doubt in her mind that she could convince her old caretaker to support Link's knighthood.

X X X

"No."

The absolution in the Army General's tone was so powerful, Zelda was almost dejected from trying again.

"But-!"

"My answer is final, Princess." Impa fermented. Though her face remained stoic throughout the request, her eyes noticeably flashed in rage. Zelda blinked back her surprise.

"I don't understand why you're not listening," she tried meekly. While Zelda technically outranked the General, the authority Impa emitted was enough to make anyone doubt themselves. Not to mention the fact that her old nursemaid was almost always on Zelda's side. The princess wasn't used to such blatant rejection and irritation radiating from the Sheikah.

"I did listen, and my answer is _absolutely_ _not_," Impa repeated, crossing her muscular arms stubbornly. "I'm sorry princess, but I refuse to assist you in bailing that insubordinate leech out of _another_ problem he put himself in," Zelda was taken aback by the sheer venom dripping from Impa's words as she continued to bash her friend ruthlessly. "He is an unnecessary burden on you in every possible way, and he selfishly uses you without a semblance of respect for your person or title. I will _not_ help him."

"I think you're overreacting," The princess muttered, Impa huffed indignantly and turned away from her. "Link has saved my life on numerous occasions. I owe this to him."

"You owe him nothing," Impa practically growled. "How he's tricked you into believing that is beyond me."

"He hasn't tricked me into anything!" Zelda puffed out her cheeks petulantly. She was starting to feel personally defensive over this blatant attack on Link's character. "He's determined, hardworking, loyal-"

"Loyal!" Impa scoffed, cutting the princess off which only proceeded to anger her further. "I wouldn't trust that pest as far as I could throw him. How can you honestly not see that he's using you?"

Zelda took a deep breath before talking, realizing that responding with 'well you could probably throw him pretty far, actually' would not get her anywhere in this argument.

"I _understand _why you might have initial qualms about Link having just met him. I even did myself," she bit out, eyeing Impa carefully so she wouldn't think to interrupt again. "But after I got to know him, I started to see more than just his brazen attitude or short fuze or where he grew up. Despite all these things, he's proved to me that he really _does_ care for Hyrule, and myself." Zelda's voice softened considerably as she spoke, while Impa's face grew increasingly more disgusted.

"And I _understand_ that you feel obligated to pay him back for bringing you home safely, but you must realize that he's taking advantage of the-" Impa cut herself off suddenly, furrowing her brow as she flicked her eyes over Zelda suspiciously. "You mentioned 'where he grew up' in Links list of distrustful things. Where was he from?"

Zelda froze, fighting with every fiber of her being not to make any sudden movements as if that would somehow tip Impa that she had struck a chord.

"You know don't you." It wasn't a question, but Zelda rushed to answer anyways.

"O-of course not!" The princess sputtered, denying the accusation a little too heatedly. "I just-no one-not even _he _really knows and I was just-not being born in hyrule is considered-or perhaps he was-" Zelda hastily tried. In her own defense, she was making rational points. Just, not coherently.

Impa watched the princess struggle to cover her slip with narrowed, analytical eyes. After letting her flounder for a few moments, she spoke.

"-And to not know your own parents must have been considered-"

"You're right Zelda."

The princess stopped rambling, blinking up at the taller woman in surprise. "I am?"

"I haven't given Link a fair chance to prove himself." Impa said simply, shrugging her armor-covered shoulders as she spoke. Yet, her eyes didn't seem to lose their skeptical glint. "I'll consider your proposal." With that, Impa turned away, signifying that she was really done with the conversation. Zelda was left alone, feeling the oddest sense of dread.

* * *

It had been a full week and Link _still_ hadn't slipped up. In fact, he had been following through with Impa's requests with surprisingly little complaint.

That was, still a lot of complaining, but less than the Sheikah would have expected from him.

Ever since her conversation with the princess, Impa's intuition that Link had ill intentions increased tenfold. Yet she'd _agreed_ to give him a chance after all, and the Sheikah _was_ a fair woman. So, she'd been giving Link extra, tedious tasks which usually had some kind of intellectual trap within them. The goal was to somehow get Link to slip up and reveal his true nature so that she may dismiss him from the military, and therefore from the Princess' life. However, she had yet to be successful.

Though now, Impa had finally figured out the perfect mission for the boy, one that would successfully get _two _snakes thrown out of Hyrule at once. Zelda herself even admitted to not trusting Link upon initial meeting, and clearly knew more about the man than she was willing to share. These secrets were _not_ something Impa was comfortable with the princess keeping from her, and there was _no way_ the Sheikah would continue to let him be such an underlying influence on Zelda.

"Link!" Impa boomed as she threw open the practice dojo's doors. A squadron of soldiers were engaged in two person combat with dulled swords. Not exactly something Link would suffer from missing.

When the soldier heard his name called, he quickly wrapped up his fight. With one motion, he disarmed his training partner with a hilt to the hand, and a knee to the gut. As the man fell backwards, Link turned toward Impa, shooting her a cheeky smile while she rolled her eyes.

"I have another task for you," the General offered in an uninterested tone, holding a piece of sealed parchment out for Link to take. "That is, if you're done here," she added, giving a disappointed look at the easily defeated soldier on the ground while they sheepishly rubbed the back of their neck.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Link asked, face screwing up nervously as he accepted the paper.

"This isn't one of _my_ missions. The usual messenger is attending court matters for the king, and we need someone to deliver this report to Lieutenant Fraden at his post on the other side of the city." Impa pursed her lips as Link let out an audible sigh of relief. "A blind donkey could do it, so I suggested you."

"No problamo, Imp-o!" Link chirped, genuinely excited to get such a laid back assignment. Impa shot the soldier a steely glare. "_General_ Imp-o?"

"Just go" Impa sighed. Link nodded in conformation as he headed for the door, letter clutched firmly in hand.

The Sheikah waited a few moments before also exiting the training dojo, making a point to head in the opposite direction as she made way for the crowd of people gathered in town square. Once she was sure no one was paying any attention to her, the general slipped on her hood and started for the other side of the city.

Lieutenant Fraden had been falsifying documents under the king's name for some time now. Using the seals, dates, and actual information he received from real reports, he synthesized fake ones with striking accuracy. Impa knew this because she intercepted a few of these falsified reports from Fraden's usual messenger, who was now in prison. Though she didn't have enough evidence on the Lieutenant to have him convicted. Yet.

The parchment Impa had handed Link had a Sheikhan 'mirror' spell cast upon it. Once the report was unveiled by Faden, Impa would be able to see and hear whatever the pair of untrustworthy soldiers happened to be discussing without them having any idea she was listening.

And the best part was, the interaction would be recorded permanently in her own enchanted parchment, and she would be able to use this evidence to get _both _of them exiled.

Impa just had to be within a designated range of the spell for it to work. Though that was but a mild annoyance. If she hadn't mastered the art of staying in the shadows by now, she may as well not even be called a Sheikah.

It didn't take long for the army general to find Link in the crowd of people, electing to tail him on his way to Fraden's post. Annoyingly, the soldier kept getting distracted by just about everything he passed, making the walk across the city about twice as long. He even ended up _buying lunch_ in the middle of an assignment. Eventually however, he did make his way to the army base.

Impa broke away from her place in the crowd, slipping behind a rock wall and starting for the military post. When she was only a few yards from Fraden's building, the Sheikah did a quick double take to make sure no one was looking, and leaped nimbly into a nearby tree, groaning slightly as she hoisted herself up.

"I'm getting too old for this," she muttered as she climbed higher, immersing herself in the canopy cover. After waiting for a short while, she noticed Link had _finally_ found his way to the Lieutenant's doors.

A few words were exchanged before Link handed Fraden the sealed document. After briefly analyzing the content, Fraden invited him inside. Impa grinned to herself. Honestly she could practically read the minds of these idiots by now.

The Sheikah once again scanned her surroundings, checking to assure no one was within hearing distance. She then slid her hand into her cloak and removed her enchanted parchment, quietly uttering the spell's trigger word as she unfolded the paper.

"-haven't had you in my division, but it seems like you've got a good head on your shoulders." Lieutenant Fraden's face and voice materialized on the paper. His eyes were intensely scanning what was undoubtedly words on his end, though in a way that was very much unsettling to Impa, as if he were staring at her directly. Much to her relief, he soon placed the report onto what was probably a table, and turned toward the soldier beside him. "But I _also_ hear you've got quite the rebellious streak," By the time Fraden was finished fiddling with the document, he had placed it in a manner that allowed the Sheikah to almost completely see both him, and Link from a rather awkward worms-eye view.

"That's me," Link proclaimed confidently. "Just your average, extremely good looking, rebel without a cause."

Impa rolled her eyes.

Fraden however give a polite chuckle, placing a hand on the soldier's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I _like_ a rebellious streak. It shows that a soldier can think for himself. He's not a puppet of the system."

"Seriously?" Link blinked at the man in what was almost awe, "Geez, why can't _you_ be one of my commanders."

"Well _actually_," Fraden removed his hand as he spoke, lowering his voice ever-so-slightly. "I could be."

"What do you mean, like, request to get me redistricted or something?" Link's face screwed up a little at the thought. "Nah Man- uh, Sir. I'm actually trying to move _closer_ to the castle, not farther away."

"Perfect, so am I!" Fraden exclaimed, which caused the younger man to raise a brow. Before he could ask any questions, the Lieutenant continued talking. "Link, how familiar would you say you are with the king's politics?"

This question visibly caught the younger man's attention. Impa grinned despite herself. She had these two traitors right where she wanted them.

"About as familiar as your average castle guard," Link responded in a surprisingly well calculated manner. "Why?"

"So, not very familiar at all?" Fraden reiterated, Link shrugged noncommittally. "You're not alone. Practically everyone's kept in the dark about what's _really_ going on around here. And while we, as members of the military, might think we have some idea, we're really just all being lied to the most."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Let me show you something."

Fraden disappeared from the papers window of vision as Link stared curiously after him. After only a few moments, Fraden reemerged with several documents in hand. From what Impa could tell, each donned the official royal seal, as well as appeared to be written on the castle's parchment.

"I highly doubt you've ever seen these reports, but they come directly from the king himself," Fraden said as he handed a few documents to Link, who cautiously started to read them. "They're top secret of course, I practically have a blood oath not to spread them. But lately I've grown tired of it all, and I realize I have a civic duty to show soldiers I feel I can trust."

Link sifted through the documents with an increasingly scrunched up expression. After a few moments of scanning, he found his voice. "No I've definitely never-" he cut himself off, head wiping up to face the Lieutenant with a betwixt expression. "These are fake?"

"What?" Fraden asked, though sounded more annoyed than surprised.

Impa's brow creased as she brought the parchment closer to her, attempting to see any obvious flaws in the parchments. The documents she intercepted were almost expertly forged, how could _Link_ of all people be able to distinguish them so easily?

"I'm sorry, Man. I don't know where you got this information, but it's fabricated," the soldier said simply as he handed an exasperated Fraden back his papers.

"Why do you say that?" Fraden tested, looking over his carefully constructed reports with a frown.

"The princess' signature."

Impa practically choked on air.

"I assure you that's what it looks like," Fraden defended, pointing to the name. "And that is _her_ royal seal. It's even her ink!"

Link however, couldn't be swayed. He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, it's far fetched to begin with to think that Daphnes would sign these, but there's absolutely no way the Princess would."

"How would you know?"

"C'mon," Link tried, grinning at the older man. "These documents admit to stuff like increasing taxes on food so they could decorate the west wing of the castle, and laws that are in place specifically to keep strict tabs on everything that the citizens of Castle Town are doing. There's also requests to dissolve post-military benefits for soldiers. There's no way she's _seen_ it, let alone signed it."

"Alright, so what if they are slightly exaggerated," Fraden waved his hand dismissively as Link perked a curious brow. "We have no idea what the King is really doing behind closed doors, he's so damn secretive. But we do know that all he cares about is _expansion_. He hasn't done anything beneficial for the people he already has under his rule in _years_. These documents are meant to open Hylian eyes to what is a very _real_ issue; and that's that we don't actually know what King Daphnes is doing with our country."

Understanding seemed to wash over Link's as he offered a small smile. "Listen," he began, leaning in closer to talk quietly. "You don't even have to make this stuff up. The actual truth of what Daphnes is doing to the people _outside_ of these major cities is messed up enough as is. If you could just find a way to show everyone what's going on with the Zora or the Goron people right now, maybe that would-"

"Wait a second," Fraden took a step back from Link, eyeing him as if he went insane. "Those swamp creatures and the rock-eating neanderthals? The point of this is to point out his injustices that affect actual _people_. No one cares about _that_."

A flash of anger danced across Link's features for such a short moment, Impa almost thought she was seeing things.

"Right," Link dropped the argument immediately and nodded as if he agreed, though his body language spoke volumes as he began to visibly tense up, glancing at the exit in clear wanting to leave.

"What's the matter?" Fraden questioned, crossing his arms as he took note of Link's sudden restlessness.

"Look," Link leveled, "I couldn't care less about what you're spreading about Daphnes, but leave the Princess out of it," Impa imagined both she and the Lieutenant wore similar expressions of bewilderment at that. "She's the best of you idiots, and why you would try to drag her like this is beyond me."

Fraden scoffed. "Like Princess Zelda is any better! They're _both_ leaders of a corrupt monarchy that needs to be replaced. What I'm proposing is a real chance for a _republic._"

"Run by who," Link challenged without hesitation. "_You_?"

"And others," Fraden tried, not missing the chance to direct the topic of conversation back to his goal. "Others that _could_ include you, if you worked with us."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Link fermented. While they were bickering he'd made his way toward the door and away from Impa's window of vision, though she could practically _hear_ the roll of his eyes. "Not comfortable with the whole hostile takeover thing. Rooting for ya though, I really am."

"That's your choice," Fraden raised his hands in defeat, and Link was heard grabbing for the doorknob. "But Link, I wouldn't go telling people what we discussed today. It's for your own good."

"Oh," the soldier responded, paused to leave. "And why's that?"

"The 'rebel without a cause' as you put it, claiming that a senior, trusted Lieutenant in the military is planning a coup? Doesn't exactly seem believable," Fraden pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm only looking out for you, of course.

"Of course," Link's voice was muffled as he was already halfway out the door.

"Have a good day, soldier!"

Impa slammed shut her parchment, wrinkling it in the process. Through the shuffling of the leaves, she could make out Link exiting the building, his jaw clenched in anger. He appeared to be muttering to himself as he walked away. Whatever calm composure he was keeping in front of the lieutenant had completely dissolved as he practically stomped back toward the castle.

Impa ran her hand over her head. That exchange… she didn't know _what_ to think. Everything she'd observed pointed to Link agreeing to take Fraden's offer, and betraying the military without a seconds hesitation. She could barely even bring herself to fathom the actual outcome.

The Sheikah gracefully leaped from her hiding place, vacating the area with haste. When alone, she re-watched the encounter several times, carefully observing the actions of the young soldier through it all. He spoke with blatant disregard of any loyalty to the King, but to Zelda on the other hand…

Impas choice was made for her when that night, she received an anonymous letter urging her to covertly look into Lieutenant Fraden.

Only minutes later, the Sheikah found herself outside of the throne room, having burned the enchanted parchment. She would get Fraden convicted another way. Micro-revolutions started up all the time in a military the size of Hyrule's, and while Fraden had a _slight_ following, it was nothing to truly be concerned about. No, that wasn't why she was here.

With only a nod to one of the guards, the grand doors opened wide as she proudly marched herself in.

"General Impa?" Daphnes addressed in surprise, "You called this meaning? What calls for the disturbance so late at night?"

"It's about the soilder Link, sir."

"Ah, yes," the king leaned back tiredly, rubbing his brow. "What has he done this time?"

"I've come to suggest him for knighthood," the Sheikah woman said, her voice low and unwavering. Daphnes instantly sat up in his chair, perking an intrigued eyebrow.

"Now _this_ is unexpected."

* * *

The stale night air blew softly against Link's face as he strolled through the uncharacteristically calm Castle Town. Curfew had already ticked by, and now the only sign of the city's dense population was the twinkling of candle light through glass windows.

One of the many perks of working for the military was that, dressed in his guard uniform and walking the usual patrol route, he was practically immune to any suspicion. _However_, after Link reached Castle Town's great wall, he veered significantly off the safety of this course. Continuing on until he found the city's aqueducts, the spot where the water from lake Hylia flowed directly into Castle Town from a rather sizable piping system, he stopped walking. After a quick double take to assure he wasn't followed, Link whistled a short tune.

"Took you long enough," A familiarly annoying voice chastised from their hiding spot behind a few wooden barrels of water

"I got caught up with something," Link offered vaguely with a wave of his hand. It wasn't a lie, he had to figure out a way to slip that anonymous tip to Impa without her knowing it was from him, and it was certainly took effort.

"Perhaps you found a better way into the city?" Another voice spoke up, poking her green head out from a neighboring barrel. Link grinned at his hopeful friend.

"Sorry Saria," he couldn't hide the amusement in his tone when she and Mido revealed themselves, body's utterly soaked with water. "I've walked this baby a dozen times. This is literally the only other entrance I could find."

"Figures," Saria slumped her sopping shoulders as Link stifled a laugh.

"So," Mido began, clearly eager to get the exchange over with. "What've you got for us?"

"Honestly, I think it's almost time to make our move," Link told them eagerly. "I was even asked to join a rebellion in the military today!"

"That's wonderful! We have allies then?" Saria cheered, eyes shining in enthusiasm. Link shook his head in the negative.

"Well, I said no," the pair of honorary Gerudo looked at their king as if he'd lost his mind, and he swiftly worked to defend himself. "It wasn't the kind of revolution we needed, trust me. There's no way those self-righteous assholes would have worked with _us_ anyways. But still, it shows that people are starting to notice, right?"

"Link are you out of your mind?" Mido demanded, disregarding the previous statement. "We need all the help we can get, whether they know they're helping or not!"

"It was a bunch of elitists trying to overthrow elitists," Link remarked, glaring at the taller man in irritation. "Din, Mido! Would you just trust me? I know what I'm doing."

The two boys started in on a silent glare match, as usual; until Saria cleared her throat and attempted to change the subject, as usual.

"So how's obtaining the other triforce pieces going?" She tried. It was an innocent question, but it appeared to have the opposite of the desired effect as Link shuffled his feet guiltily.

"Yeah, about that," he began, scratching at the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I was actually thinking maybe we could rethink our plan a little? I mean, I know we're treating her as the enemy _now_, but Princess Zelda might-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mido quickly cut the other man off, much to his displeasure. "Don't even bother _entertaining_ that theory, Link. That wench would have you sent straight to the gallows in a minute if she knew who you really were, let alone what you were planning!"

"_First _off, she's not a wench," the Gerudo King pointed out in irritation. "Second, I'm _serious_. If I could just get her to understand-"

"Link, Midos right," It was Saria who cut him of this time as she shook her head at him. "You can't go jeopardizing this mission on the off chance that the Princess _might_ vouch for it. We're planning to kill her father," Saria tried to catch Link's eyes, but they were seemingly transfixed to something on the ground. "And if King Ganondorf's theory on triforce transfer turns out to be correct, eventually you've got to kill _her_ too."

Saria didn't know whether or not she imagined it, but it almost looked like he'd winced at that last part.

Mido must've noticed too. "Tic, don't you _dare_ tell me you're getting cold feet now," he taunted, smirking slightly at the inward battle Link appeared to be having.

"Shut up!" The Gerudo King snapped, fists involuntarily clenching at his sides.

"Link," Saria coaxed, lightly placing a hand on her friend's shoulder as she sensed his distress. "King Daphnes, Princess Zelda, and the Hylians that support them are the _enemy_. The Gerudo, we're your family. You're doing it for _us_. You're doing it for all of the other races of Hyrule who've been victimized and trampled on during the Nohansen reign."

"I know," Link breathed out, his voice so quiet that it was almost overpowered by the soft sound of running water.

"Why don't you head back before someone notices? We'll meet you here again tomorrow night," Saria finalized, sensing that it would do Link no good to keep discussing this. Taking a life was never easy, and Saria was sure the prospect was getting harder and harder to think about the more he got to know these people. It wasn't his fault really, Link had always been more sensitive than the rest of their sisters, though he chose to hide it.

"Yeah," he offered, shaking his head slightly as he turned away from the pair. "See you tomorrow," he said with an empty smile, and a wave goodbye.

"See you tomorrow."

The remaining Gerudo waited a few moments until Link was out of sight before thinking about their inevitably unpleasant departure from Castle Town.

"I can't believe this is happening," Mido spoke suddenly, frustration seeping in his words.

"Don't be so dramatic Mido," Saria scolded, turning toward the mini-waterfall that they had came in from as she began to organize barrels in such a way that they could climb through it again.

"What, you didn't notice?" Mido continued on as he stacked the water barrels, much to the girls displeasure. "He's drifting. Probably becoming too accustomed to life as a Hylian."

"No he isn't!" Saria hissed, ceasing her work to shoot him an annoyed look.

"It's probably the Princess!" Mido kept at it, only slightly deterred by her disapproval. "She's probably planting all sorts of weird ideas in his head! Honestly with the way he talks about her, I think he might be in lo-"

"Seriously Mido," Saria cut him off, placing her hands on her hips. "That's your _king _we're talking about here."

"You don't think I know that?" He reasoned, and for all intents and purposes, he really seemed to be serious. "That's why I'm saying it in the first place! Mark my words Saria, this is too much for him, he's been here _too_ long."

Instead of responding, Saria shot him a warning glare to tell him to stop talking. Luckily, Mido appeared to get the hint this time, and they continued on their escape from the city. Though the whole way back to camp, Saria couldn't shake the eerie feeling that perhaps Mido may have been on to something.

* * *

**So what did you think? Feel free to leave a review on how things are going, and fav and follow if you want more! **


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N Hello readers, and welcome back!**

**I'm excited to get this out to you all! The balls really starting to roll in this chapter. Home stretch you guys!**

**I'll hopefully have this fic done in the next few months, but again I want to edit the older chapters because I'm not like, entirely sure if stuff I wrote a year ago makes sense with the things I just wrote recently. Buuut for now we're just gonna cross our fingers and hope for the best!**

**It's fine I'm a professional guys.**

**Anyways, read on and enjoy the latest chapter!**

**I do not own LoZ**

* * *

_Even with a 40% decline in trade with neighboring countries in the past year, the reign of King Ganondorf has seen a 15% increase in crops and a surplus of manufactured goods being recycled into Hyrule's own economy. A 2% increase in factory workers indicates positive city growth. A 3% tax increase on herbal goods has been implemented-_

The sound of the doors opening caused Zelda to give a slight jolt, slapping the leather-bound economics book shut as she lifted her head up.

"Am I required for something?" She bit out, heart beating erratically as she stuffed the book under a stack of novels.

"Nah," the figure of a knight appeared from behind a bookshelf. "I just got bored."

"Sir Link," Zelda relaxed slightly as she offered a small smile, "I didn't realize you were my assigned guard this evening."

He grinned. "Well maybe you'd have seen me if you'd left the library once every six hours," he pointed out, pulling a chair out across from her. "Reading anything good?" He nodded to the disorganized stack beside her.

"Not really," Zelda fibbed, casually pushing the old volume deeper under the pile with her elbow. Link raised a brow, so she quickly worked to change the topic as she nodded to the darkening sky. "Perhaps I have been in here for a while, huh?"

"No kidding," Link snorted, relaxing into his seat as he put his feet up with a yawn. "Oh, I almost forgot. Prince Cassius requests a meeting with you at the castle gardens today around noon."

"Noon-" The Princess gasped. "Link it's almost past sunset!" She exclaimed, standing up immediately.

"Would you look at that?" The knight shot her a mischievous smile. "My bad. Guess you and lover-boy will just have to meet another time, hm?"

Zelda pursed her lips, fighting back the inevitable redness of her cheeks as she shot him a look. "The Prince is an honored guest of Hyrule," She began to gather the top layer of books into her hands. "Standing him up is essentially standing up all of Labrynna. There is absolutely no personal interest in the matter, or a relationship that exceeds anything beyond professional. Not that I need to bother explaining this to you _again_."

"That's not what people are saying," Link muttered, half to himself as he watched her swiftly clean. "If you hurry, you might still catch him," he told her, and if Zelda didn't know better, she would almost say he seemed annoyed.

The princess scoffed. "Yes I'm sure he's still-" She cut herself off, pausing for a moment as she glanced at the knight. "You don't really think he's still waiting for me do you?"

Link snorted in amusement. "If he's smart," Zelda rolled her eyes. "No, I'm sure he's looking for you by now."

"Is that what you'd do?" Zelda asked, a little nervously. She hoped Cassius didn't think she was avoiding him on _purpose_. Whether she was or wasn't was out of the question of course, as long as he didn't _think_ it.

"I'm here now aren't I?" Link hinted with a cheeky smile. Zelda had no retort as she playfully shook her head, subconsciously sliding a hand over the economics volume to shield it from view

"Whatcha got there?" Link inquired curiously, not one to miss the suspicious behavior.

"Oh, n-nothing," She answered a little too quickly, taking her hands away to cross behind her back.

"Mmhm," Link sang as he reached for the concealed book. Noticing the action, Zelda swiftly ripped it away before he could touch it. "Wha- Zelda?" He gaped, standing up as he tried to grab it from her hands again, but she spun away. "What is it?!"

"It's just- _hey!_"

Link managed to seal the book from behind and casually strolled back to his seat, plopping down as the Princess nervously watched.

"_Hyrule's Economic Reports Edition XVI,_" he read allowed, scanning through the book as he glanced over at her with mirth in his eyes. "Gees Princess, could you be more boring?" His teased, flipping to the beginning. It was here that he noticed something that caused his smile to fade. "This is-"

"It's nothing!" Zelda grabbed for the book, using his distractedness to her advantage as she pulled it in toward her. Link blinked up at her as she held the novel close.

After a moment, Link broke into an impish grin. "Oooh King Daphnes would be _so mad_!"

"Don't _say_ anything!" Zelda hissed quietly, turning to a nearby bookshelf to hide the report behind the organized novels. "A-as Future queen it's my duty to analyze _all_ types of governing so I may be the best monarch I can be. His rein is a taboo subject, so if this is the only way I can gather information on the previous king, then I owe it to the country to do so. And furthermore-"

"Calm down," Link cut her off, laughing. He seemed all too amused at catching her. "You don't need to give me one of your speeches, it's not like I'm gonna tell anyone," he said with a shrug, noticing a label-less book on the table as he picked it up and began examining. "Wait, this one's… written in code?"

"One of… one of King Ganondorf's personal journals I believe," Zelda admitted as he raised a brow in surprise, handing the book to her.

"They didn't burn them after…" Link trailed off, though the Princess understood where he was going.

"They're official records, they can't just be destroyed. Also, they could contain valuable information. They're… simply sealed off in the restricted section of the royal library. There's more saved from that era than you might think," Zelda offered as she continued to hide the books in the back of the shelves.

"You were snooping? Aw Zelda, I'm impressed!" Link snickered as the Princess struggled to come up with a retort. "So did you and your almighty triforce of wisdom crack the key?"

"No, actually," She sighed, picking another journal up and opening it to show him some scratch paper she had scribbled notes on. "It's extremely sophisticated. I can't even tell if the book is enchanted to be honest. Lately I've been reading third party reports from that era to see if I can find any clues."

"What are you even looking for?" Link raised a brow at the princess. "It's not like he's still a threat to the crown or anything. He's dead."

"Yes but," Zelda sighed. She knew she could trust her friend with this information, yet still felt oddly squeamish about sharing it. "History repeats itself, and Ganondorf was a powerful sorcerer. All things pointed to him being able to keep his spot on the throne through sheer power alone, since that's how he commandeered it. Though I have my own theories on why he was ultimately unsuccessful."

"I wouldn't call him unsuccessful," Link argued, tapping one of the journals absentmindedly. "He did occupy Hyrule for over a decade."

"Yes, but his reign was never really accepted," She told him, sitting back down to speak more quietly. "Hylians fought him every step of the way. Even when his choices were objectively correct, people still disapproved. For all of his power, he was _still_ overthrown."

"So," Link cleared his throat. He'd become a lot more serious as she spoke, and Zelda silently appreciated him taking interest in things like this for once. "What's your theory?"

"Well obviously the issue lay with _how_ he came into power," she continued, less apprehensive now as he appeared to be hanging on every world. "Think about it. He killed a king who was widely loved, and he himself was considered an outsider. It was impossible for him to garnish the respect of his subjects, because they felt he didn't respect them. Micro-revolutions were constantly being fought, and when it came down to it, it was no surprise that the military betrayed him and allowed my father's forces to break in."

"So… if you were in King Ganondorf's place," Link started absentmindedly, not looking at the Princess. "What course of action would you have taken for your people?"

"Well," Zelda rubbed her chin in thought, intrigued by the idea. "I suppose I would have reached out for a legal partnership with my Grandfather. It may have taken a while, but I could have slowly introduced Gerudo culture over time and intertwined the races that way. Which I believe was Ganondorf's original intent."

"But what if that's not possible," Link asked suddenly. Zelda scrunched her forehead at the unexpected question.

"I don't under-"

"You think that King was any more compliant with the Gerudo then, say, your father is?" Link persisted, causing her to blink in surprise. "Din Zelda. This is _real life_. You have to know that the diplomatic solution isn't always going to be possible."

The Princess didn't say anything for a while, she was taken aback by the comment. She supposed he had a point, but… where had that come from? "I…" The princess trailed.

In hindsight, perhaps the subject of Ganondorf was sore for him. She knew he grew up with the Gerudo, but was always so adamant about hating his time there. The old king was a touchy subject around anyone surely, but from Link?

"_Princess? Are you still in here?_" A muffled voice chimed in through the other side of the library doors, causing her to breathe an inward sigh of relief. "_And if so, may I come in?_"

"Y-yes!" She answered a little too quickly, standing up from her seat in order to address the person respectfully.

A Labrynnian Knight cautiously opened the library doors, stepping in and instantly bowing to her. "Prince Cassius has been looking for you all afternoon! " The knight reported. "I've been asked to escort you to him, if that is your wish."

"Of course! If you would just give me one moment?" Zelda confirmed, gesturing for the Knight to wait outside. He seemed hesitant to leave her alone as he took notice of a pouting Link who was rather unprofessionally slumped over the table, but ultimately relented and stepped out of the room.

"Well, looks like you're off the hook for the rest of the evening," Zelda said, a hint of tartness to her tone in regards to his uncalled for shortness with her. "Unless," She paused for a moment, testing the waters. "You wanted to accompany me?"

"I'd literally rather chew my own arm off than sit through another one of your dates with the Prince, but thanks," Link was practically sulking. She wasn't sure if it was something she'd said, or the fact that she was going to see Prince Cassius, of whom he seemed to have some strange rivalry with.

"I appreciate the selfless concern for your Princess." Zelda mentioned sarcastically in attempt to lighten the mood. "It feels good to know I'm my loyal knights first priority. Clearly they'd never be willing to trust my wellbeing to just anyone. They will continue to guard me no matter the cost to their own comfort. Rain or shine. day or night-"

"Hey, don't ever question my loyalty," the tactic appeared to work as Link shot her a familiar grin. "You've gotta go, and someone has to hide all these books for you."

"Oh! Good idea," The Princess smiled, doing her best to ignore any and all concern at Link's earlier behavior as she warmly ran a hand over his shoulder in passing. "Let me know where you put them later."

Link nodded, which was enough of an apology for her to pretend the whole incident never happened.

* * *

A violent coughing fit. Weak knees gave out, he's falling to the floor. A handkerchief clutched to his mouth to muffle the sounds. The attack stopped, the white cloth is removed. Blood.

Gritting his teeth, he crumpled the handkerchief and pulled himself back up, stumbling his way through the stone tunnels. He hadn't much time. At this rate, he'd be dead before…

The thought caused him to push harder, gaining back a youthful stride as he sees the light at the end of the cave. A nostalgic wave crashed over him as the old cove came into view. He hadn't been here in years, yet the room lay untouched, hidden for almost two decades now.

He staggered his way to the center of the room, to his precious portal. Dust covered the orb, a thick layer shrouding all of his artifacts. A rough, wrinkled hand pressed against the crystal ball, causing a rush of magic to course through his old bones, reinvigorating him as he breaths in the smell. The orb beneath his palms was now swirling with a dark energy, reacting to his sorcerer powers.

"Awaken," he boomed, relishing in the feeling of being connected to the other world. His world. The Dark World.

"_Master… it's him… he's returned to us… it's him … he's calling us… it's him … he looks different … it's him … "_ Many voices whisper from the other end, stirred for the first time in years. The sorcerer smirked as he felt their presence grow stronger, the room swelling thick with energy.

"It's time to awaken," He repeated, shadowy figures now manifesting around him, the energy collecting into solid masses, "It's time to return to the World of Light!"

"_Master … we're here now … Master … we do as you command … Master … it's him … "_

* * *

"Blah blah Hylians, blah blah crown…" Link muttered to himself, scanning the encrypted book with increasingly little patience, "_Farore_ King G, you couldn't have made it a little easier on your damn successor?"

He thumbed through the pages frustratedly, honestly having made very little progress from Zelda herself. He'd figured since, you know, being a fellow Gerudo and having already decrypted plenty of Ganondorf's journals back home, he'd have an easier time than this. However, the faux Knight had been here for hours now, and honestly had barely even scratched the surface.

A few trends he was able to recognize because of Ganondorf's earlier, more juvenile codes, but _damn_ the guy must have trusted _no one_ in this castle.

It was late now, long past curfew. Though if Link thought creeping around at night was easy when he was a soldier, being a member of the King's Knights was a cake walk. Not many had right to question his actions, and it was all too easy to sneak out of his bunk (and also away from Navi) and make his way to the library without any suspicion being drawn.

However he was beginning to wonder if it was even bloody worth it by how impossible this task was proving to be.

He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, running a hand through his hair in effort to ease his tension. Thank the goddesses that Zelda trusted him with this information. He wasn't quite sure what was hidden in these journals, but he was pretty positive it wasn't something he wanted the Nohansens knowing. He could always take the journal to Saria and Mido next time they came to meet him, perhaps something at camp would be helpful in decoding the stuff.

Link felt his eyelids grow heavy as he relaxed into the seat, allowing his mind to wander as he began to nod off.

The quiet lasted only a few more moments though, when Link was gently roused from sleep by the drumming of footsteps rushing past the library doors. The Gerudo blinked in bleary confusion, before once again succumbing to the lull of sleep when no noises followed.

A distant shriek echoing from somewhere in the castle ripped him from his nap with a jolt.

Link stumbled out of his chair, hearing the stampede of more and more footsteps crashing down the hallway. He grabbed for the journal and the dimming lamp beside him, rushing over to the exit after placing the book in his pouch for safekeeping. Curiously, he pushed the door open, only to be forced immediately back into the room by a frantic servant storming by, knocking the lamp from his hand and extinguishing the small flame.

"What's going on?" He managed to ask the group of people after muscling his way into the hallway.

"Link?!" A fellow Knight, one who was high ranking enough to take residence in the castle, briefly stopped to respond to him. He was running in the opposite direction as the servants, and his weapon, a broad battle axe, was out and in his hand. "What are you _doing?!_ Where are your weapons and armor? You heard the orders, it's a code red!"

Code red? "The castles under attack?" Link inquired in confusion.

"There's no time to get your things now, Boy! Here," The knight reached for the spare sword at his belt, tossing it to him as he started to run again. "Now get to your damn post!" He called.

Link blinked at the object, obeying as he mindlessly jogged against the flow of servants. The castle was being attacked? By _who?_ Hyrule didn't have any declared wars going on with neighboring countries, and it certainly wasn't his sisters. The Goron and Zora were out as well, they both wanted peaceful resolutions to their problems. So… what was it?

Curiosity and adrenaline drove him to one of the Castle's many entrances, the increasing shouts of servants guiding his path. Though this search for answers was interrupted when the wall a few yards in front of him was inexplicably crashed through by a hideous marble statue, forcing him to stop and shelter himself from injury.

The Gerudo hesitated in surprise, watching as a few squealing servants rushed through the hole and pushed passed him. Link curiously made his way to the newly created room entrance, scrambling over some debris as he took notice of a few dozen soldiers in the room, fighting…

"No way…"

The hulking creature let out a gross cross between a howl and a snort as it wildly swung its club at the attacking guards, smacking a few and sending them flying in every which direction. The thing had to be ten feet tall, disgustingly muscular, and covered in sparse metal armor in a few places like its shoulders, chest, and head.

Smaller, slightly less horrifying versions of this monster also happened to be engaged in battle, carrying weapons that ranged from spears to swords to wooden clubs, each fighting with a kind of gorilla-like, unpredictable style that the monsters of the Spirit Temple tended to do. Of course, Hylian Soldiers like these would be devastatingly unfamiliar with this type of combat.

These creatures though, Link had seen them dozens of times in drawings, though never in person. Enough times to recognize them immediately. In fact, he could barely believe his eyes now. It was impossible. These, by all accounts, were _moblins._

The hurling of another knight mere inches away from him caused Link to break out of his stupor. Ganondorf was dead, so the moblins had to be acting on their own somehow, or perhaps under a new ruler. Regardless, even as a loyal Gerudo, Link didn't have any qualms about fighting them.

"_Hyaah_!" He shouted, hurling himself at the largest moblin, who was now trying to make its way up the stairs after clearing all of its enemies away from it. The beast was slow, and Link managed to rake its leg with a powerful sword slash, causing it to release that repugnant howl in pain.

The moblin instantly thrashed with its club, Link easily ducking and rolling out of the metal object's path, though he was taken by surprise when the moblin easily changed the weapon's velocity and swung it after him once more.

This time, Link was barely able to dodge, creating some distance between him and the beast as he jumped back. The moblin was clearly infuriated that Link, a Hylian, had not only managed to seriously wound him, but also dodge his club, so he gave up on his stair ascent and directed full attention to the eager Link.

Honestly, it had been a while since Link had actually fought something challenging, and if he got to simultaneously wreak the castle while doing it, then, well, he'd been more upset over lesser things.

The moblin smacked the club downwards, cracking the granite floors with the powerful strike. Link leaped up, precariously landing on the club itself as he sprinted up the weapon, and then the creature's massive arm. Once he reached the head, Link drew a swift upward slash, catching the creature in the face and flinging it's metal helmet clear off its head.

"GRAHHH!" The Moblin stumbled back, dropping its hefty club as its hands covered his eye in pain. Link, once again, nimbly jumped away, feeling cocky about properly disarming the massive pig-dog-man-thing.

Shaking the pain off, the now furious moblin screeched loudly, revealing it's one bloodied eye. It swung for Link with a great fist, which he again was able to doge. If he could just get the moblin to strike the ground again, he could repeat the previous remover on the monsters other eye, blind the thing, and effectively-

"_-Ooof_!"

What Link had unfortunately failed to notice, was when the Moblin was trying to smack the Gerudo with one hand, the other came from behind and snatched him clean out of the air after he made his inevitable dodging jump.

Where fear should have been, was more or less replaced with a strange sense of appreciation at how what appeared to be a brainless, chaotic monster was able to analyze and predict Link's next move enough to _actually_ grab hold of him. Damn, moblins really _were_ a forced to be reckoned with. No wonder Ganondorf was able to lay siege to Hyrule for over ten years using- oh _goddess_ the thing was _really_ starting to crushing him now.

"Those damn… Hylian training exercises…" Link puffed, deciding to blame the military's lack of proper flighting education on his rusty sword work. As the moblin continued to squeeze on the limp Gerudo's body, it simultaneously brought Link toward its face, opening its gaping jaws and offering the pungent smell of rotting meat, decorated by an array of sharp yellow teeth that Link refused to let be the last thing he saw, solely out of how revolting it was.

Fighting back vomit and specs in his vision, the Gerudo found his window and thrashed upwards, kicking the monster square in the teeth, and effectively knocking a couple of them out. The surprised Moblin loosened its hold on him enough for Link to dislodge his sword, deeply cutting through the palm of the moblin's hand and finally getting the monster to release him.

As the moblin struggled to pull itself back together, Link gaped like a fish in attempt to allow air back into his lungs. Stumbling back, he clutched at his bruised, if not _broken_ rib cage mournfully. This would take _weeks_ to heal, even with the accelerated healing powers of the triforce on his side. But what really annoyed him, was the fact that he totally deserved that.

After a few seconds, Link no longer felt like he was trying to breathe underwater, and lifted himself back into fighting stance to re-engage the still floundering moblin.

"I'm actually a little sorry to be doing this," Link told the creature, eyes gaining a steely glint, as he positioned his sword to strike. "Considering that you should technically be obeying _me_ by now."

Shockingly, the Moblin almost appeared to understand Link's words; offering a bloody, broken toothed grin as he once again grabbed for the Gerudo King.

Link however, wasn't stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice. Instead of dodging, he slashed the oncoming hand away, then threw himself forward, springing upward and plunging the borrowed sword straight into the moblins heart.

"I guess I'll take that as a no," Link muttered, pushing the sword deeper into the beast as it fell onto its back, applying pressure until it finally grew limp under his blade.

Link practically doubled over then, his abdomen starting to swell with pain as the adrenaline ebbed away. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he dislodged the sword and shakily looked around the room. Most of the soldiers were still engaged with the smaller moblins, what were actually called bokoblins if Link remembered correctly, though a few were staring back at Link with shock in their eyes. Particularly the soldiers that the moblin had incapacitated with its club earlier.

The Gerudo King stumbled off of the dead monster, inwardly debating on what to do next. Perhaps the most wise course of action would be to make his way back to his bunk and collect his swords, as well as Navi. He was sure the little fairy was fine, but he really had a feeling she might actually be useful in this situation.

As Link started toward the exit, something caught his attention that caused him to completely forget all prior plans, and really just any overall sense of self preservation.

A distant scream. Feminine, and short. He wasn't even sure how he _heard_ it over all the chaos around him, there were dozens of screams in this room alone. Yet, this was different. He didn't just hear the cry, he _felt_ it.

Link whipped around, all attention planted to the stairs. He noticed a few bokoblins that had managed to sneak away during the hysteria rushing up them, and recalled that the moblin he was previously fighting had tried to do the same. These creatures were clearly not here on accident, and they were clever enough for it to be premeditated. They had a goal. They had a target.

And it was Princess Zelda.

Before Link could even finish his own thought process, he was already darting up the stairs after the stray bokoblins. The unexpecting enemies were cut down with ease, two by sword slashes, and one he simply kicked off the balcony. This barely even slowed him down as he continued his mad ascent up the stairs.

The upstairs hallways were now mostly empty. He encountered a few bokoblin, which really only required a brief battle and a few hits two to be incapacitated. Link was in a mad dash through Hyrule Castle's trashed and vacant rooms, with only the occasional distant shout as his guide on where to go.

After a short while of running, Link had subconsciously found his way to the Princess' chambers. The lock was broken, and he wasted no time in throwing the door open. To both his relief and distress, Zelda was nowhere to be found. Her room however looked like a storm had passed through it, much like the rest of the castle.

Another shout, and Link was off and running once more.

The scream was close, this time he almost immediately knew where. The third floor ballroom was his best bet, and now he was rushing through one of the many corridors that lead to it.

Much to his dismay however, when Link reached the end of the hallway, he was barred off by the metal gate which was usually closed at night. And to think, it was actually built into the castle for _security_ reasons. Great freaking job, you asshole architects.

"Zelda!" Link shouted, almost smacking against the bars as he barely slowed himself down, shaking the gate rapidly in attempt to dislodge it.

The battered Princess had managed to stumble her way into the ballroom from a different entrance, which was immediately sealed by the following bokoblin, successfully trapping her. In fact, the bokoblin had managed to seal off every entrance into the room by the time she'd made it inside. He and Zelda appeared to notice this horrific fact in unison.

"Link?!" Zelda asked as if she didn't believe he was there. She looked _exhausted_. Link figured that she could have held the things off if she'd had a sword, but after being forcibly dragged from her room in the middle of the night, it was very unlikely she had any weapons on her at all. She had probably been using magic spells to keep them away from her, and as Link knew, those drained a lot of her energy.

"Take my sword!" Link shouted, holding the blade out through the metal bars. Unfortunately, several more energetic bokoblin heard this request before the Princess could make any moves. The things wasted no time in surrounding Link's gate with goddess damned _mirth_ in their eyes.

Furiously, Link tried to hack at them through the bars, but it wasn't exactly going to plan as they taunted him by easily jumping out of range.

"_Din's Fire!"_ He heard the princess shout, and he realized that must have been what she was yelling all along. Astonishingly, Zelda managed to cast another spell, clasping her hands together and causing a plume of fire to catch around her. The spell managed to burn the closest Bokoblins, but most of them already appeared wise to her tricks and were purposely keeping back, waiting for her to tire herself out.

"_Zelda!"_ Link shouted again, sheer panic rushing through him as he watched her fall to her knees. Frantically, Link beat against the metal gate with his sword, his intensity actually managing to get the surrounding bokoblins to take a few steps back. "Zelda hang on!"

The Princess turned her head toward him, monsters cautiously coming toward her now from all sides, weary that she may have just enough strength for another fire attack. She offered a small smile, mouthing words that the hysterical Link couldn't understand.

"_No!"_ He screamed, somehow slashing the gate even harder now. He felt _pain_. Not pain from the previous fight, but new stabbing feeling deep in his chest that ached worse than anything he'd experienced in battle. It was sheer terror. It was complete devotion. It was a blade straight through his heart. It was…

It was total willingness to die for someone else.

_Take me instead. Take me instead! __**Take me instead**__!_

As Zelda closed her eyes, consciousness betraying her, Link smacked the gate so strongly that his sword actually let out an audible _crack_, and as he screamed for the bokoblin to get the _fuck_ away from her, the pain in his chest grew so unbearable that he almost felt like losing consciousness as well.

That was when the south wall exploded.

Time practically stood still as the ballroom's elegantly carved moldings crumbled and expelled all throughout the room, surprising the bokoblin as they scrambled away from the explosion.

"My Princess!" A familiar voice called as Link was slowly tugged back into reality.

The sword swinging figure of Princess Cassius blurred into view as the smoke and debris from the bomb cleared. He immediately plunged himself into battle, unapologetically ripping into the bokoblin in the ballroom with his hulking sword.

The monsters in question seemed extremely annoyed with the intrusion, rushing the man in groups in attempt to overpower him, but to no avail. Link watched speechlessly as the bokoblin that were previously surrounding Zelda turned their attention to the Prince, only to be cut down with ease. The Princess wasn't moving, and the horribly painful feeling had yet to go away because of it, but such a strong wave of relief was hitting him at the sight of the Prince, his knees almost gave out from under him.

Once the final bokoblin in the room had been mowed down, Cassius rushed to Zelda's side, swiftly checking her pulse. The Prince breathed a visible sigh of relief as he allowed a genuine smile.

"She's alright!" He called to Link, lifting her limp body into his arms. The Gerudo blinked in surprise, not realizing Cassius knew he was there. Though, he supposed it would have been hard not to, considering he was screaming his head off and attacking the gate like a maniac only a minute ago. "Don't worry about her, she's safe with me! Go to the King!"

Link was still struggling to cope with the surge of emotions that just ripped through his poor damn body at hearing that Zelda was alive. "T-the King?"

Prince Cassius nodded vigorously. "Yes the King! You think they're just here for the Princess?!" Cassius demanded, scoping Zelda into his arms. "I've got to get her medical help, you _must _retrieve King Daphnes!"

Link shook his head in attempt to focus. "Right!" He agreed, hesitating for a moment to as if to somehow assure the unconscious princess wouldn't spontaneously combust, before turning around and jogging out of the hallway.

Clarity reached his fluttering mind as he navigated the eerie castle. He was currently racing to save the very man he was sent here to kill, and if that wasn't irony he didn't know what was.

As the Soldier neared the king's chambers, he began to notice a distinct amount of carnage and increasing in numbers of casualties, moblin, bokoblin, and Hylian alike. The Gerudo ceased running, instead looking onwards at the blood soaked halls with conflicting thoughts.

If Daphnes did die in this battle at the hands of a moblin, what then? The simple answer is that the corrupt king would be no more, and 'Queen Zelda' would take his place. Link however, would be out for the count.

He surprisingly didn't seem to mind that scenario.

But, why were these moblins here? What happens if they got their hands on the triforce of courage? Was that the goal all along? Who was their leader?

Links pondering was interrupted when, in his search for survivors, he noticed a strange blood pattern pooling on the ground. It appeared that a slight trail of crimson liquid continued farther down the hallway, which likely meant someone survived that gore fest. Upon closer inspection, he realized this blood was in fact that of the Hylian variety, being significantly more red than the contradicting monster blood. Without any further thought on the matter, Link found himself rushing up another flight of stairs.

The blood trail increased in thickness, indicating dangerous blood loss levels. Link was even fearful that he may find another body at the end of the path.

The the top of the stairs, off in one of the castle's spires, a single door with a red-smudged handle caught his attention. Someone was inside, and bleeding out quick.

"You in there?" Link banged on the wooden door, and then grew quiet, placing his ear against it. After a few moments, there was no response however, so Link tried again, this time banging harder. "Hey!" He shouted, banging again. There was still no reply.

He groaned in annoyance as he backed down the stairs, mostly because this would really hurt his already aching ribs. Link then took off in a sprint toward the door, slamming into it at full speed and effectively breaking it open.

Would you actually believe it.

King Daphnes was propped against a table weakly, holding a decorative sword from his manel out in front of him murderously, prepared to strike as the door swung open. He'd marginally stopped himself from cutting Link, in fact. Though once he saw who it was, he let out a sigh of relief as he slumped his shoulders.

Honestly, he was _not_ expecting this. How was the old king the _only one_ to survive that massive murder fest by his room, when there were several knights back there who were trained for this sort of thing.

Then again, Daphnes grew up fighting the moblin army, unlike Hylian soldiers now who haven't even seen monster enemies like these in almost twenty years.

Regardless, the fact that the king was still alive posed an extreme moral dilemma for the previously satisfied Gerudo.

"_Din_, Link! You could have just told me it was you and I would have opened the damn door," Daphnes chided, dropping his weapon as he pridefully forced himself to stand without the help of the table. A gash in his side had stained Daphnes' sleepwear crimson, and was still dripping blood into an unhealthy puddle on the floor.

The Gerudo hesitated. There he was, completely unguarded. Death surrounded the two of them, no one would suspect a _thing_ if Daphnes too, old as he was, died in this mess. Not only that, but if Ganondorf's theories were correct, Link may end up with the triforce of courage for his own, and still had a chance of taking over Hyrule without risk of that 'inevitable revolution' crap that Zelda was going on about.

He could do it, easily too. The king trusted him enough to let his guard down, to put his life in Link's hands. With a flick of the wrist he could suffocate that trust, and accomplish the goal he came here for. To take back the crown of Hyrule for the people, not just the Hylians. To become the next ruler. To make his sisters proud.

Yet here he was, lowering his weapon and going to this horrible king's side, grabbing for a table cloth and using it to bandage the man's _wounds_ for Nayru's sake.

The king flinched as he yanked the cloth tight, tying it off with little remorse. "Goddess, Boy, take it easy," the king grumbled, before adding sarcastically; "What are you trying to do, cut me in half?"

Link frown slightly. Don't remind him. "I believe a 'thank you' would have been appropriate in this situation, Your Majesty," he answered, carefully wrapping Daphnes' arm around his shoulders as he gently shifted the man's weight onto his own, much to the King's protest.

"I can walk on my own," Daphnes mentioned, though made no effort to back up his claims this as the two of them limped forward.

"I know," Link said as they began a painfully slow decent down the stairs. Link too had to ignore the throbbing pain his ribcage felt at the added weight. "I'm only doing this because I've secretly always wanted to embrace you."

Daphnes let out a curt chuckle, which faded into a hiss of pain. Link realized they should probably be focusing on making it out of there before the asshole bleed out. When they made their way to the hallway of bodies and reached a steady pace, The King spoke again.

"A moblin got me in a cheap shot," he explained, glaring at a monster's body as they passed. "I'm out of practice with the things anyways."

Huh, that's exactly what Link said.

"Bringing back fond memories?" Link asked as they turned a corner to more stairs. Only two more flights to go.

The king smiled wistfully. "You have no idea."

They continued down at this slow pace, thankfully not running onto anymore stray monsters, though Link still had his sword prepared if need be.

"Do you know if my daughter is alive or not?" The question took Link by surprise, only because of how casually it was mentioned. It was extremely detached, with no hint of feelings behind his words. Contrarily, Link was struggling to ignore the overwhelming swell of emotions at the mere thought of her well being.

"Yes, she is," he said with a considerable tinge of softness. They were now coming up to the final staircase, thank the Goddesses. "She's safe with the Prince of Labrynna."

Daphnes turned his head to look at the Gerudo, a glint of relief in his eyes as the man's indifferent guard faltered ever-so-slightly. This was of course immediately covered up with his next comment. "I take it she was your _first_ concern then," he mentioned, in a way that Link couldn't tell if he was actually offended or not.

"You were a _very_ close second, Your Majesty," Link offered, not bothering to deny it.

The king smirked to himself, amused. "I suppose I'll have to live with that. Can't say I'm surprised."

Fighting could still be heard from the front room, so Link would have to take Daphnes out a back entrance to avoid more injury. Luckily, several holes had been blown into the castle's bottom floor walls, and there were no longer any monsters coming in through them. Careful to step over the rubble with only a few grunts of complaint from the King, Link managed to find a moblin-made exit that appeared clear.

As the two hobbled outside, Link set course for what appeared to be a large gathering of servants, soldiers, and even some city folk a little ways away, between the castle and the city. It seemed like the worst of the attack had come and gone, but now that he was outside, Link could see several shops and homes were lit up in flames in the surrounding city of Castle Town.

"King Daphnes! Oh thank the Goddesses you're alive!"

When the two got close enough two be recognized, several knights ran up to them. Carefully, they pried the injured king off of Link's shoulders as healers started to frantically swarm. The Gerudo was more than willing to let him go, as he was far more concerned for the well being of a _different_ member of the royal family. If he was being honest, he'd been searching for her from the moment they stepped outside.

Link caught sight of the Prince only a few yards away, too attentive to notice the commotion caused by the appearance of him and the king. A blonde woman was sitting on the ground beside him, also surrounded by healers as they worked to make her comfortable with their limited supplies.

Gently shoving through the crowd to get to her, Link found himself being drawn forward, forgetting the ongoing commotion around them as he felt himself unconsciously mirroring the smile on the Princess' face as she was handed a blue potion from a healer.

"We need to talk, _now._"

The furious voice cut through Links haze, causing him to temporarily freeze before turning around and seeing a familiarly cloaked figure evaporate into the crowd.

_Shit._

Link changed direction at once, doing his best to follow them as he pushed through the horde of frightened people. They were walking _fast._

By the time Link made it out of the blob of Hylians, he barely had enough time to notice the figure disappear beneath the hill that lead into town, and was walking at an exceedingly brisk pace to keep up with them. The continued on like this until they made it to town, Link growing more and more nervous by the second. Not only was it likely that there were still moblin about, but he had no idea how much she'd seen of his little stunts earlier.

When the pair reached an empty, unlit alleyway in the outskirts of the city, the cloaked woman suddenly stopped walking, turning toward him silently. Neither one of them spoke for what felt like ages, until Link finally gathered the courage to begin conversation.

"What are you doing inside Castle Town, Saria? What if someone sees you?" Link asked, his voice betraying him by wavering uncomfidently.

"What the fuck was that."

The Gerudo almost had to keep himself from wincing. He'd never _once_ heard his best friend swear, and she looked _livid_. "What do you mean?"

"I _saw_ you Link! You were _saving _him!" Saria's questionably calm demeanor crumbled as her eyes flashed in rage, practically shouting at him in the middle of the street. Link made a shushing motion with his hands as he came in closer, just in case anyone happening to be in listening distance.

"Well, what did you want me to do?" He urged in a hushed tone.

"Well geez I dunno Link," Saria sassed, ignoring his pleas to keep quiet. "_Kill him!?_"

His heart sank as she spoke the words aloud. She was right. "While he could barely move?" Link defended. "C'mon Saria, you know that's not exactly honorable behavior for a king."

"There was a _moblin_ _attack_." Saria bit out. Link fought the urge to point out that actually, the moblin attack was still happening, and he should probably be dealing with _that_ right now instead of having to explain himself to her. "The goddesses themselves practically sent you this window and you _saved him_?!"

"I thought we wanted to do it publicly, this would have just looked like an accident," Link mentioned, though he knew it was a losing battle. Everything indicated that he should have gone through with it. He had nothing stopping him. She was right.

"This was _the_ opportunity! We couldn't have planned something more perfect!" Saria's rage was melting into distress. Link could practically see his friend leaping to conclusions that he didn't know how to steer her away from.

"Well… now he _really_ trusts me…" Link offered, but Saria's focus was transfixed to the ground, having fallen silent.

The air was practically palpable with tension by the time she spoke again. "...You don't plan to ever kill him," she glanced up, eyes quivering with heartbreak. "Do you."

Link couldn't bring himself to respond. He didn't need to, they both knew the answer.

He had his reasons though, he really did. Yet the distrust in Saria's eyes crippled him. He could practically feel the disappointment radiating off of his Gerudo sister, and Link couldn't find the words to justify himself.

"I can't believe it," Saria whispered to herself as she shook her head. "Mido was right."

"Listen," Link attempted explaining, his voice quiet. "Saria, I-"

"What Link, you _what?_" She demanded, "You've decided to leave the clan, is that it? You no longer wish to be our king, is _that_ it? You've forgotten the terrible slime creature that Daphnes truly is, and you wish to serve under him like a _dog_ for the rest of your life?" She hissed, looking at anything but him.

"No Saria, that's not it at all!" He answered confidently, "Everything I do is for the good of my sisters, it's for _you_! You don't understand, Ganondorf-"

"_King_ Ganondorf-" Saria interrupted, shooting him a glare, "-didn't wimp out when we needed him most. He took Hyrule in _our_ name, and did his best to make it a just place for everyone!"

"That's the thing though," Link pressed, lamenting on Zelda's theory. "He never _really_ took Hyrule. The Hylians at least, they never accepted him. He was usurped, and the Nohansens just came right back to take over the crown."

"Here's a thought. Why don't you _kill the_ _Nohansens_ and keep that from happening," Saria stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Link felt a chilling feeling wash over him at the simplicity of it all.

"No," he replied a little too fast. "No, that's not how we deal with this situation. Daphnes is a tyrant, but _Zelda_-" he emphasized her name as if it were the most important word in the world, "-is a monarch. The king is old, and he's injured. Heck, he might even die from the wounds he got today. Then the princess will naturally take over his spot, and no one else has to die."

"I don't understand," Saria shook her head at him, but still seemed to soften considerably at his words as she began to plead with him. "You _know_ Zelda will be just as bad as her father. She's heartless, she's a dictator, she's-"

"You don't know anything about her," Link cut in defensively, which only proceeded to confuse his friend even more.

"She's… She's bewitched you?" Saria tried, raising a brow in confusion.

"No I've just," Link shook his head. "I've just gotten to know her," He said, looking up at Saria in attempt to convey that he was telling the truth. "She's nothing like her father. She's caring, she's loyal, she's strong, she'd make the _perfect_ leader, we don't need to intervene," His words came from personal experience, but Saria still didn't seem convinced.

"You really…" Saria's face scrunched in sort of a pained bewilderment. "You're in _love_ with her?"

The question took Link by such surprise he actually forgot how to speak for a moment. "I- wh-what-" he stammered, uncharacteristically feeling his face heat up and turn red. His mind was racing to catch up with her question, though Saria had already drawn her own conclusions as she scoffed at his flabbergasted face.

"I can't believe this," Saria practically growled, spinning away from him as if the mere sight of her king disgusted her. "Men really _are_ weak."

"Saria wait!" Link reacted quickly, grabbing onto her arm before she could run off. The Gerudo instantly wrenched herself from his grasp.

"Don't _touch _me!" She hissed with surprising malice. Link complicity lifted his hands in the air.

"_Chill_ okay? Just-" An idea struck Link as he remembered that he still had Ganondorf's journal. He dug through his pouch quickly before unveiling the old leather bound book and holding it out to her eagerly. "Just tell everyone to hold off for a while, alright? And take this back to Nabooru for me. It's one of King Ganondorf's old journals. It's heavily encrypted, but I think with the stuff we have at the fortress she might be able to crack it."

"What are you-" She seemed hesitant to take item, but Link was persistent.

"Just please Saria, _please_," he implored, holding the book out to her as if it could somehow bridge the newly formed gap between them. "Trust me, I'm _begging _you. I'll come up with a new plan, okay? I just need some time. I... can't kill the Nohansens. We'd just be making the exact same mistake twice. Look-" he gestured to the book again, "-I'm still on your side, I'm still with the Gerudo. I took this _from _Zelda. Saria just _please_, you can't ask me to…" Link trailed off, scanning her eyes for any sense of loyalty.

Technically, since Link _was_ her king, Saria would be obligated to grant his request regardless of if she agreed with it or not, but Link chose to take her reluctantly compliant response as the first step toward mutual understanding.

"I'll take it back to Nabooru," she said as she finally took the book, stuffing it under her cloak before continuing to walk away.

"Wait, you're going tonight?" Link questioned, taking a few steps after her. "But- the Moblins! It's dangerous!" Saria however, appeared to pay his warning no mind as she continued to walk deeper into the crippled city. "Ugh, Saria!" He called, voice getting louder as she increased in distance from him. "When will you be back?"

"Whenever I get back," She shouted, though still didn't stop.

Link watched her disappear into the smoky dawn, slumping in defeat. This was a _mess_. He was afraid Saria was still partially convinced he planned to betray his sisters, and she was his _closest friend_. If he couldn't get her to see his reasoning, how could he expect the rest of his people to?

Link began jogging his way back up the hill to rejoin the frightened crowd. He didn't know how much use he'd be with his aching ribs, but he could at least stand near the citizens as a knight to offer some false sense of security. Also, any distraction from the thought Saria's distrusting gaze would be great right about now.

Besides, what did she know? To propose that he loved Zelda? Zelda?! _Princess Zelda Nohansen of Hyrule_?! Yeah right! She was more like an annoying kid sister, at best. That would also explain why he was so worried about her all the time. Heck, the whole first part of his mission was just a mesh of worrying about her, it's not his fault he still cared. It's not like that meant he held any hidden romantic feelings toward her. He just really, really, _really_ didn't want to see her die. What's so wrong with that?

So, yeah, he was four seconds away from sacrificing himself for her an hour ago, but shut up.

As he made his way toward the crowd, most people took no notice of him approaching. Most, except one blonde woman in particular. Even with the swarm of Hylians frantically buzzing around her, she seemed to be searching for something when her eyes found his, causing her face to light up considerably.

"Link! You're alright!" He could barely hear Zelda over the chattering of the crowd, though he couldn't help but return her beaming smile. He was powerless to her smile, the sight of it forcefully injecting him with with a warm, comforting feeling all throughout his body. It was mind numbing, hypnotizing, and never failed to temporarily make him forget about all of his problems. Then, she turned her attention away form him.

And the pleasant feeling was destroyed by the choking sensation of dread.

"Oh mother _f-_"

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